[Mihai]

Funny I didn't notice this before?
Maybe because now I hear it more and more often, among english speakers?
Ending a sentence that's not a question, with a questioning tone?
A way of talking which seems to have originated among the Californian bimbo population?
Hopefully it's a cultural fad, on its way out, because it's really annoying and stupid?

[rusteberg]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_girl

[Mihai]

That explains it?
I'm not sure what to say to someone who talks like that? As if their brain is constantly surprised of the words coming out of their mouths? And they need a "uhm-yeah" confirmation from the person in front of them?

[rusteberg]

Uhm, yeah.

[Mihnea Balta]

Like, totally uptalk?

[Hervé]

ahhh the Valley Girls... I kinda miss them... hehe..

[hatts]

There is actually a really interesting article on this topic. It turns out that the teenage girls have more influence than we thought...

(...what if they become sentient?!?!)

[Bubbaloo]

Great article. My 5 year old daughter can do the "vocal fry" thing. It's freaking hilarious. She is of course imitating what she's heard on TV, but it's great. Totally.

[Mihai]

It's like, I'd like to strongly disagree? with that article....
The reason adolescent teen culture dominates, is because a lot of money can be made off of teens as has been discovered. The reason this 'girly' talk exists is that usually in adolescence (and often throughout adulthood) you confuse attitude with personality, and these....cute ways of talking are ways of expressing an attitude for lack of personality, OR lacking the ability to truly express what you had in mind. Eloquence. So it's like, you know?

[Half Life]

I guess there are as many way to speak/enunciate/inflect as there are social groups -- I've lived all over America so I think I have a pretty generic American "accent" (whatever that means), but I do find myself slipping into a southern-redneck drawl sometimes... alternately sometimes I'll slip into an inner-city thug-speak speech pattern (pseudo-Ebonics). One of my friends say I mumble too much -- so who knows.

I think it just depends on my mood, the subject I'm talking about and the audience.

I worry about these things when I record my videos because I realize a good portion of my audience speaks English as a 2nd or 3rd language... so I want to make sure I am easily understood -- But I also want to keep things lively and moving at a good pace because nothing sucks more than a narrator that puts you to sleep.

The valley girl thing doesn't bother me so much, but I can't help but associate it with Paris Hilton.

Best,
Jason.

[tom]

Watt is your name?

[Thomas An.]

Ending a sentence that's not a question, with a questioning tone?
... .cute ways of talking are ways of expressing an attitude for lack of personality

A bit shallow, I agree, sort of like echoes inside empty "containers" ?

[bograt]

According to 'shameful secrets of the 80's' (shitty tv program in the uk) we in the england have the tv program 'neighbors' to thank for polluting our language with uptalk... it roots from the Aussie accent... I guess somehow girls in cali got confused and took it on themselves

[hatts]

I guess somehow girls in cali got confused

This tends to happen frequently for varying reasons...