I don’t know if only girls & women do this, but they are the only ones I’m aware of having this horrible habit.
When coming to the end of a sentence, many often raise register (?) so that the last words are at a higher note than the preceeding ones. It’s sort of like how one raises one’s voice at the end of a question. It takes even the most remote image of confidence and self-worth that a girl might have and throws it completely away.
So please! teach then to not do that. People who do that sound as if they can’t even tell time, because if you ask it, instead of saying, “It’s twelve o’clock.” they say, “It’s twelve o’clock?” Would you hire a person who talked like that? Or give a good grade on an oral report?
Whew. Glad I got that off my chest. Thanks for your time.
I’m working on it, I’m working on it! My daughter does this and so do most of her friends. Annoys the crap outta me. I have noticed that when she argues with me, she doesn’t do it.
I suspect it’s just a verbal “tic” they pick up from one another, but I’m also thinking it reflects their general low self-confidence levels. Teenage girls are not known for being exceptionally sure of themselves.
I had a female friend who did this, and it really annoyed me. But I never mentioned it to her. I always felt like her declarative sentences were questions. Then she’d pause. :rolleyes:
The worst part is that my roomate (male) does this when he talks on the phone to his family or g/f. Its like he has a built in placating tone with every conversation. Granted, that probably not such a bad thing…
Classically spoofed by the Band Camp Chick in American Pie, this is truly one of the most annoying things about hearing young girls talk. I don’t know any, I don’t have any, I don’t know anyone who has any, but I still have to hear 'em, shopping in Wal-Mart, in the parking lot at the grocery store, in line at Starbucks…
“So, like, I said, you know, like, who the hell do you think you are? And he said, like, what? and I said, well, listen, I’m not, like, your slave? So you know what he said? Oh my God! He said, like–oh hey, hmmmm, I think I’d like…I’d like a no-fat skim double caramel macchiato?”
blink blink
Normally I find the music they play in Starbuck’s kind of annoying; it’s only when they are under seige by the Teenage Mutant Question Marks that I strain, really hard, to concentrate on the song at hand.
Actually, I think this pre-dates Valley Girl Speak, and I’m pretty sure it is a sign of insecurity. I know when I was a teenager I went through a patch when I was afraid anything and everything I said would be wrong. Fortunately I didn’t pick up that particular annoying habit.
Correction: Teenage girls never, ever say “I said…” It’s always,always, “So like, I go…”
“So, like, I go, you know, like, who the hell do you think you are? And he goes, like, what? and I go, well, listen, I’m not, like, your slave? So you know what he did? Oh my God! He goes, like–oh hey, hmmmm, I think I’d like…I’d like a no-fat skim double caramel macchiato?”
