What’s up with people who raise the tone of their voice at the end of each sentence as if they are asking a question, but in fact, they are not? I have noticed that this ridiculous way of talking has caught on, not only with the younger generation, but also by politicians, news reporters, talk show hosts, teachers, business people, etc. Speaking this way is not professional.
Most of the time when people talk like this, they lose credibility. I never know if I should answer the question, but then, is it a question or not?
Would you believe there is an actual name for this affliction? Wikipedia has given a full page to what is called “High Rising Terminal.” Sounds more like a multi-level bus depot, but not to digress, here is the description: The high rising terminal (HRT), also known as moronic interrogative, uptalk, upspeak, rising inflection, unnecessary inflection, or high rising intonation (HRI), is a feature of some accents of English where statements have a rising intonation pattern in the final syllable or syllables of the utterance.
It started popping up several years ago, but unfortunately, it hasn’t gone away. I can take it for a sentence or two but not much more than that. It’s as irritating as nails on a chalkboard, if you know what I mean.
Along that same vein of annoyance, I want the word “like” to stop appearing in every sentence. There are people who “like, cannot say anything, like, without using the word like. If, like, you know what I mean!” By overusing this word, IMHO, it accentuates stupidity. Whatever they are saying is annoying and painful to listen to them.
Apparently the professional world, as well as the entertainment sector, have taken over the English language and the sheep are following.
Agree wholeheartedly! It shows ignorance and an intense desire to fit in with others whose language skills are lacking. Why would you want to do that?
The new speech pattern that drives me most crazy is rampant in TV interviews, particularly local news interviews with cute gals who bake cute cookies, owners of new restaurants, local chamber of commerce reps, and pseudo-medical staff touting ways to freeze your fat. It goes like this:
Q: “Tell us about your new location.”
A: “YEAH! Well…”
Q: “How old do kids need to be to join Trampoline Madness?”
A: “YEAH! Blah-blah-blah…”
Hint to all: If it is not a yes-or-no question, no one wants to hear you shout out “YEAH!” at the beginning of your response. It indicates either you are not fully listening to the question or you’ve fallen into a sixth-grade-millennial speech pattern.
I wish the interviewers would sit down with their interviewees and make them practice their responses before going live…but perhaps they’ve become unable to respond to any question without the stupid “YEAH!” in front of their answer. I swear, if one of their friends was trying to jump a battery and asked them, “Should I connect the red positive lead to black negative post?” an answer of, “YEAH! I should check…” could get someone electrocuted.