Getting old? Gravelly Juvenile Voice Syndrome...

Why are young people in particular adopting a manner of speaking which causes them to drop into a gravelly sound in the back of their throats? It used to be only old male politicians like Muldoon who errrrrrred and growled their way through interviews, but for some reason, it is now really common amongst young people. I can't actually do it in my own throat without significant effort and discomfort, but I presume it's a lack of effort to project the voice in a well-modulated way. It has begun to really annoy me on the radio in particular because it makes it really hard to hear what's being said and the noise is very grating on the nerves as well, so I stop even trying and turn the damned thing off. (Hence my getting old question: am I just getting grumpy?)

Can't stand flashy visual stuff, can't stand background noisy stuff, no wonder I like cows so much, since they have similar preferences.

Speech and writing are about communication above all. If you adopt practices which increase the difficulty of others in understanding you, surely you hinder your own progress?!

Gosh which radio station in particular!! never noticed it, only giggling females and fast speaking males, with the inflection of the sentence going up, so a statement turns into a question, every 5secs, which makes me wonder if thats the ploy to get us to mentally interact.
Yes you must be getting old tho I have noticed all this lack of tolerance has come since the knock on the head.. so more likely post concussion syndrome

I was always this grumpy, just less willing to let it show. [}] Interesting that a bump on the head should lower my inhibitions. []

RNZ National. Lots of younger interviewees. Slight hearing loss makes it really hard to hear if a voice is clouded by other sounds.

Actually, maybe not altogether grumpy, more interested commentator!

I'm stuck in my office or on the couch, I'm that thing I rarely suffer: bored.

I hadn't noticed a change Isla

Bugger, you think you're hiding things really well, then someone points and you realise you've forgotten your trousers. []

Isla;315863 wrote: Why are young people in particular adopting a manner of speaking which causes them to drop into a gravelly sound in the back of their throats?

Yes, during the past few months, I have noticed this with young women in particular. They seem to think that a low-pitched growly voice sounds cool or something. Several of my nieces do it, whereas the ones that don't sound more feminine to my ear.

They were all raised in West Auckland, so maybe that has something to do with it as well :confused:

There was a woman interviewed on the radio during the week - some high level Google exec. whose words I had real trouble hearing because she dropped her voice so far back into her throat. It is as much of an affectation as speaking nasally, which seemed to be quite the rage at one point.

Femininity is not my concern, but intelligibility certainly is.

It would really interest me to discover an explanation for the change. I'm not so much grumpy about it (except when trying to hear some interesting content) as intrigued. Linguistic changes are fascinating, even the awful ones. Like yeah, nah, like. We're still chuckling about that gorgeous kid who got washed down a drain a few weeks ago - friends pushed him in or something, Hamilton perhaps? - who, when asked some question answered in the negative: not even, ow?

as long as you dont get confused like this video
www.spareroom.co.nz/2010/05/12/remove-my...-other-choice-links/

beedee;315937 wrote: as long as you dont get confused like this video
www.spareroom.co.nz/2010/05/12/remove-my...-other-choice-links/

ROFL -- well spotted BD

You'll have to write a summary: no broadband here.

In summary.. a female reporter (speaking in Dutch I think) is at a festival and decides to investigate the toilet set-up. In the male loo area there are long silver trays filled with a yellow liquid and as she approaches a man walks up.. she says (I assume) oops, sorry and goes to turn away and then realises he is washing his hands... in what turns out to be the urinal.

He asks (in a US accent) "I hope this isn't the urinal" and then sees the look on her face and realises what he has done.

My voice tends to go very low and gravelly when I am nervous but trying to sound authoritative [}]

welcome to the club Isla. I also do not understand R.O.F.L is it a new word that I have to learn and what does it mean? tkf

Keep the gravel out, and it'll work!