# Do You Read Posts as Voices In Your Head? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 8, 2011, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-posts-as-voices-in-your-head/577632 "2011-04-08T06:13:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![phantom\_lamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@phantom\_lamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phantom_lamb)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-posts-as-voices-in-your-head/577632/21 "2011-04-11T13:13:49Z")
Well it’s the same “voice” I imagine for forum posters as when I read any book, article, blog, etc… just a generic, non-gender, non-defined voice. It’s different if someone consistently writes in all caps - when I see it I imagine a stupid kid yelling and then skip over the whole text. I can actually hear the irritatingness echoing in my head. Kinda cool. ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-posts-as-voices-in-your-head/577632/22 "2011-04-11T13:18:54Z")
I do, but even more interestingly I have a friend who has a… unique linguistic style. Any time there’s a post that’s especially entertaining, it’s in his voice for whatever reason. He speaks very clearly, it’s not like he mumbles, he just uses unique grammar, and the way he places the emphasis in always interesting ways. It’s something I could never reproduce, even if I tried, but for some reason I can _hear_ it in a voice that sounds passably his. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-posts-as-voices-in-your-head/577632/23 "2011-04-11T13:54:52Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > No, but explain how (if you do) read my posts. You write really nasally, with quite a whine. Stop it! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-posts-as-voices-in-your-head/577632/24 "2011-04-11T14:12:31Z")
Hmmm…now that I think about it, the “voice” I hear/imagine very rarely changes, even when reading straight fiction. Even with the latter, if there’s a change, it’s more like how you’d change your voice if you were reading a story aloud, and differentiating between characters in dialogue, but not going to the lengths, say, a comedian or a professional voice actor would to do a fake voice. Exceptions seem to be when it’s a written work featuring characters I’ve seen and heard onscreen, and made enough of an impression. Which makes it especially jarring when the dialogue is clumsily written or out of character—it _sounds_ completely off. The other exception is H.P. Lovecraft, which I literally can’t help but imagine being read by Jeffery Combs now. 😃 Actually, a few other authors get their own voice, if their style’s distinct enough. “Genre” stories, too—the few hard boiled crime stories I’ve read through “sound” like someone doing a Bogart impression, for instance. Westerns sound like Willie Nelson. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-posts-as-voices-in-your-head/577632/25 "2011-04-11T14:39:26Z")
I used to hear different voices for different styles of writing or subjects. Now, the only voice I hear is a version of my own, and I don’t always hear that. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-posts-as-voices-in-your-head/577632/26 "2011-04-11T14:51:54Z")
Only the nuttier posters. 😃 Most everybody else is in the same narrator voice that reads everything. If I know the poster personally, then I might hear the post in their voice. **Rick** and **Rico** , for example, sound like they really do. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-posts-as-voices-in-your-head/577632/27 "2011-04-11T15:22:41Z")
I am _dying_ to find out if my posts are read by Orson Welles. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-posts-as-voices-in-your-head/577632/28 "2011-04-14T08:49:08Z")
Only rarely, usually with specific phrases. For example, I keep “hearing” the thread title **Genome sequencing for everybody!** from GD in Zoidberg’s voice. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-posts-as-voices-in-your-head/577632/29 "2011-04-14T13:50:01Z")
Yes someone in my head reads back the posts. I just have trouble hearing them when the others keep talking at the same time.😉 ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-posts-as-voices-in-your-head/577632/30 "2011-04-15T05:08:46Z")
No, I really have not been here long enough for that to happen and I only know one doper personally. However, one doper just recently took on the voice of someone I knew years ago who was self-righteous and judgmental. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-posts-as-voices-in-your-head/577632/31 "2011-04-15T14:00:53Z")
Good news everyone! I now read all posts in Professor Farnsworth’s voice! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-read-posts-as-voices-in-your-head/577632.md?page=1)