# Why do the "Preppy Types" talk like Mr. Howell? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 8, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309 "2012-11-08T00:37:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/1 "2012-11-08T00:37:11Z")
If you remember the Preppy Handbook from the 80s, you probably remember that the so-called “Preppies” had an inflection that made them sound like Mr. Howell on “Gilligan’s Island.” Well in all my years of living I have only met ONE PERSON in real life that actually spoke that way, and it took me a few minutes of conversation with him to realize that he was NOT making a joke. So I am curious: does anyone know who originally started the preppy types into speaking like Mr. Howell? Did Jim Backus make up that inflection for the character as a joke or did some people actually talk that way? Any insights that the good members of the message board here can impart would be most welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/2 "2012-11-08T00:46:23Z")
[Locust Valley lockjaw.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locust_Valley_lockjaw) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/3 "2012-11-08T00:47:36Z")
It’s an Ivy League inflection made famous by Katharine Hepburn. Regionally, it’s from the wealthy suburbs between NYC and Boston. It has long been associated with wealth, education and privilege. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/4 "2012-11-08T00:55:55Z")
It is just one of the rare made-up accents that some people adopted apparently on purpose to signify class. Other variations on that theme include the Kennedy accent which only exists in the Kennedy family as far as I know and the mid-Atlantic accent (a cross between an upper-class British accent and an American one that was cultivated in some some circles on the East Coast among the wealthy at one time). I live in New England where there are still a number of distinct accents but no youngish people speak those anymore as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/5 "2012-11-08T01:00:16Z")
“Lovey, lovey…watch your language.” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/6 "2012-11-08T01:09:24Z")
You’ll also find it mocked in the movie [Auntie Mame](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj7i88LQ9DE&feature=fvst) (and the stage play which preceded the movie) which predated Mr. Howell by several years. And for a real-life example, [William F. Buckley](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KmPLkiqnO8). ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/7 "2012-11-08T01:10:09Z")
The Preppy Handbook was a tongue in cheek book by the way. That doesn’t mean that it was made up but even in the 80’s, it would be hard to find someone who fit the model they described perfectly. The accent or variations of it did exist at one time but you would have to go back a few decades to find many examples of it and that was before Ralph Lauren ever made his first Polo shirt. There were similar books written Southern Belles and other groups. Those were just an amalgam of different ideals as well. There aren’t many younger ladies that speak with a Southern Belle accent either but it did exist in a way at one time. It is mostly just stereotyping however for comic effect. It would be really difficult to find a perfect example in the wild during any time. Actors that played those characters in comedies were just using the stereotype for effect. Actors that did it in dramas usually just did it because they weren’t very good actors. ---
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/8 "2012-11-08T01:27:15Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > It’s an Ivy League inflection made famous by Katharine Hepburn. Regionally, it’s from the wealthy suburbs between NYC and Boston. It has long been associated with wealth, education and privilege. So who made it up and popularized it originally? Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/9 "2012-11-08T01:28:27Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > It is just one of the rare made-up accents that some people adopted apparently on purpose to signify class. Other variations on that theme include the Kennedy accent which only exists in the Kennedy family as far as I know and the mid-Atlantic accent (a cross between an upper-class British accent and an American one that was cultivated in some some circles on the East Coast among the wealthy at one time). > > I live in New England where there are still a number of distinct accents but no youngish people speak those anymore as far as I know. Very interesting, do you know who originated this and why anyone thought that it made them sound more educated? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/10 "2012-11-08T01:37:06Z")
This Slate article answers most of the OPs questions re origins of the accent. [Why Did William F. Buckley Jr. Talk Like That?](http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2008/02/why_did_william_f_buckley_jr_talk_like_that.html) ---
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/11 "2012-11-08T01:50:11Z")
> [@astro](#): > > This Slate article answers most of the OPs questions re origins of the accent. > > [Why Did William F. Buckley Jr. Talk Like That?](http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2008/02/why_did_william_f_buckley_jr_talk_like_that.html) Very interesting…thanks for the link. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/12 "2012-11-08T02:00:43Z")
Louie Winthorp revived it in the 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/13 "2012-11-08T02:46:43Z")
> [@Hottius\_Maximus](#): > > So who made it up and popularized it originally? Any ideas? I think Hepburn and FDR were just using the accents they acquired from their families. Their voices were widely heard in film and radio and then exaggerated by satirists. ---
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/14 "2012-11-08T05:23:10Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I think Hepburn and FDR were just using the accents they acquired from their families. Their voices were widely heard in film and radio and then exaggerated by satirists. You’re probably right about the satirists exaggerating their voices. In fact I recall seeing animated cartoons that featured caricatures of Edward G. Robinson and Peter Lorre, among others. When I eventually got to see them in the movies, I thought “THAT doesn’t sound like the characters in the cartoons!” Peter Lorre is often made to sound like that chihuahua in the Taco Bell commercials for some unknown reason. Even in “Maltese Falcon” he didn’t sound like that. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/15 "2012-11-08T14:10:34Z")
Jim Backus was a prep himself. University School, with campuses in Shaker Heights and Hunting Valley, Ohio. Founded 1890, current annual tuition $19,200-$28,300 K-12. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/16 "2012-11-08T15:05:07Z")
[Boston Brahmin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfR4DLXYpCw). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/17 "2012-11-08T15:31:03Z")
Gore Vidal had a similar accent. He often told the story of how he had to explain that America did in fact have a ruling class with its own accent, only most people just weren’t aware of it because this class of people tends to avoid the spotlight. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/18 "2012-11-08T16:39:30Z")
> [@Hottius\_Maximus](#): > > So who made it up and popularized it originally? Any ideas? Hepburn said she got it from Bryn Mawr, the college / college prep school she went to. ---
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/19 "2012-11-10T16:27:48Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > Hepburn said she got it from Bryn Mawr, the college / college prep school she went to. That’s fascinating; I never heard that. That being said, I have to wonder why Bryn Mawr faculty and staff encouraged or actively taught their students to speak in such a manner. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309/20 "2012-11-10T16:47:24Z")
Who said that they _taught_ that accent to Hepburn and her fellow students? She might have just picked it from the other students or her professors. Sometimes this is unconscious and sometimes a person deliberately apes the accent of another person. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-the-preppy-types-talk-like-mr-howell/640309.md?page=2)