Gary Shandling - too whiny
Hillary Clintom - just …no.
Gilbert Godfrey - slit my wrists.
Ann Coulter - follow the bouncing ball - {{cough}}adams apple{{cough}}
I put forth Rachael Ray as person most likely to make me want to run my eardrums through a wood chipper.
It’s the combination of squeaky self-satisfied giggle with her constant overuse of specific annoying-as-hell-words like “Yum-OH!” and “just a drizzle of EVOO” and “delish” and “you guys”. AAARGH.
Oh, and I second the motion of Paula Deen. Nasal + whiney + overly Southern, ya’ll = much badness.
I’m going to slip Rosie O’Donnell in there as well with my list above.
Rachel Ray and John Madden.
The first one doesn’t affect me too often, because I never watch her shows. But hubby and I are big football watchers, and I just can’t stand John Madden.
Gah…I can’t think of anyone famous who speaks like this, but I had a regular customer once who I would actually hide from because of her voice. There was nothing wrong with her, but she spoke in a sort of halting clipped, somewhat retarded sounding manner and had an accent similar to the Fargo minny-soooooota one. After hearing her say three words I seriously wanted to smash her face with a brick.
“James Earl Jones … He makes such heavy weather over his pronunciation that it’s painful to listen to him.”
Maybe because he’s a stutterer?
Seconded. I’ve talked with other people from Savannah, and none of them drawled so badly that they made oil and milk into two-syllable words. Deen also has one of the most annoying laughs of any celebrity - she sounds like the Wicked Witch of the West.
Another horrible one, and you’re going to want to kill me later for pointing this out to you, is Marc Summers. You know? The guy who hosted Double Dare in the early 90s, and who hosts Food Network’s Unwrapped now. It isn’t his diction or accent - those are pretty neutral. It’s that he always ALWAYS ALWAYS takes this extra long dramatic pause before the last clause of the last sentence of his monologues. And his voice drops a half an octave after the pause. It’s like some game show host from hell, which I suppose he once was.
“Now let’s go to the Hershey’s factory to see how they have a real…(pause)…sweet time.” :mad:
Plus that mustache! He makes we want to gouge out my ears and eyes!
Joanne Silberner of NPR. I listen to NPR during my commute except for her stories. When she comes on I have to change the station. The combination of nasal twang and gumminess makes my throat hurt just listening to it.
The Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsome has an annoying voice. He also sounds like he needs to clear his throat.
Garrison Keillor. I think he really likes to listen to himself talk. Too bad I don’t feel the same way.
And I know he had a stroke a few years back, but someone please tell Dick Clark to stay home on New Year’s Eve from now on. It’s just too painful to watch and listen to that guy anymore.
She also seems to end every sentence as a question?
Jeff Goldblum. It always sounded like he was impersonating… Captain Kirk.
“De-zye-nooooors”
I can’t stand the voice of David Carradine. His stupid lisp drives me batty.
I could hardly watch the end of Kill Bill Vol.II cause of it.
NPR’s Steve Inskeep, who must dramatically build to, and then accent, the last word of every sentence, no matter how mundane. “For the story, we go now to Wade Goodwin in Denver…Colorado.”
Rick Sanchez on CNN. Not only does his voice sound like a parody of a dim-witted newscaster or sports announcer, his show on CNN primetime was utter shit. The first few times I heard him speak, I actually questioned whether he had some speech impediment or hearing loss.
Oh, allow me to double-dip and add a scoop of Chris Tucker to the thread. Whether he’s playing a cop, a criminal or an effeminate alien, he always sounds like…an effeminate alien. With just a dash of “dentist’s drill.” :mad:
NPR’s Diane Rehm. She has something called spasmodic dysphonia. Iowa Public Radio has her on the schedule 3 hours per day. It’s painful.
Daniel Schorr, whose stumbling pace and completely random inflection make him sound as if his grasp of world events is rather loose and mushy. I know he’s 90, so I’ll cut him the same slack as any old mikeman, but Cronkite sounds way better, although these days he reminds me more of Uncle Walrus than Uncle Walter.
Bob Wood ward. Why does he hic cup so of ten on words of more than one syl la ble?
John Malkovich, whose voice is that of a clammy, epicene man who lives in an attic and collects…things.
Good God, I’m not the only one. I came in here specifically to mention her. She needs someone to Dremel out her sinuses… or something. A lot of the voices on public radio are… ummm… special (nodding in agreement with the mentions of Garrison Keillor, etc., that have taken place earlier in this thread).
Jennifer Tilly. I like looking at her, I like some of her movies, but the voice is a bit much.
And for nameless people, a couple of the “expert witnesses” on a jury trial I was on were spectacularly annoying. One blood-spatter expert was a very intelligent woman who talked in all sincerity as if she was a hostess of a kiddie puppet show. Sing-song voice, short chipper pronunciations, and very very dumbed-down language. “Now, this little blood spot says ‘I was caused by blunt force trauma’! Hi, little blood spot! Can you say hi to the nice jury?”