4 ms·

In addition to the "firing people by conference call is a douche move", her voice is an excellent argument against hiring any non-Australian with the high risin

by rdl 13y ago

In addition to the "firing people by conference call is a douche move", her voice is an excellent argument against hiring any non-Australian with the high rising terminal mode of speech.

sp332 13y ago
I would say "American" (edit- instead of "non-Australian"). It's pretty common in other English dialects. There's a great series called "The Story of Film" which is narrated by an Irish guy who uses rising inflection on nearly every sentence. It's difficult for me to get used to but I wouldn't give anyone a hard time about it. edit2 - fixed title. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Film:_An_Odyssey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Film:_An_Odyssey It's available on Netflix
- mitchty 13y ago
  Its an american dialect, but its not quite right to call it american. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_rising_terminal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_rising_terminal
  - er35826 13y ago
    Anecdotally, I've found it's quite common with alot of European ESL speakers. I have worked with quite a few other people from varying countries, and it's somewhat common that they end many sentences sounding like a question.
- JonnieCache 13y ago
  The irish and welsh accents have always been like that. The welsh accent in particular modulates in pitch strongly throughout sentences, going up at the end is just part of it. There's a thing where it plunges right down in pitch and timbre at the end too, for a different kind of emphasis. I love welsh voices.
  - keithpeter 13y ago
    I just heard great nana Parry telling me off when I read that (Nana spoke Welsh and a few words of English). If she was alive now, she would be about 140. Thanks. Reporters. Local. Might not be so easy for them to find jobs. But hopefully new media skills will help.
skannamalai 13y ago
I'm an American and I can't stand the mode of speech you've described. Unbelievably grating and disingenuous.
- rdl 13y ago
  The best way to wipe it out would be to do parody YouTube. Keeps of famous/consequential speeches or events recast into HRT. And hypothetical situations like HRT from an oncologist proposing treatment options.
vehementi 13y ago
That has always enraged me, thanks for putting into words.
- diydsp 13y ago
  It's not only unaesthetic, but also ^makes it harder to distinguish when people are actually asking questions^. For example, when someone says, "So, we're going there" with the high-rising terminal, uptalkers have polluted that resource which is spoken language to the point that it makes it harder to tell if the sentence was a question or an imperative.
davidw 13y ago
As an aside, I once met this German guy who spoke English pretty well, but tended to raise the pitch of his voice throughout the phrase (I think he may have done this in German too, but it was a long time ago and I don't really recall). But I guess he didn't know English quite well enough to get his timing 100% right, and sometimes on long sentences, he'd start running out of high notes to hit, which was kind of funny. Nice guy though, and he'd smile through it.
munificent 13y ago
That whole recording reads like: Yeah, so, like, we're firing you? But you can check your email until 5:30? Today? And we'll let you use your computer until the end of this week? Starting today? Best of luck?
rayiner 13y ago
Food for thought: http://jezebel.com/5973869/women-stop-talking-old-men-dont-like-how-you-speak http://jezebel.com/5973869/women-stop-talking-old-men-dont-l.... I personally find both vocal styles (along with very strong accents: http://paulgraham.com/accents.html http://paulgraham.com/accents.html) off-putting, but I don't really like the reasons why I do.

by rdl 13y ago

In addition to the "firing people by conference call is a douche move", her voice is an excellent argument against hiring any non-Australian with the high rising terminal mode of speech.

sp332 13y ago

I would say "American" (edit- instead of "non-Australian"). It's pretty common in other English dialects. There's a great series called "The Story of Film" which is narrated by an Irish guy who uses rising inflection on nearly every sentence. It's difficult for me to get used to but I wouldn't give anyone a hard time about it. edit2 - fixed title. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Film:_An_Odyssey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Film:_An_Odyssey It's available on Netflix

mitchty 13y ago
Its an american dialect, but its not quite right to call it american. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_rising_terminal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_rising_terminal
- er35826 13y ago
  Anecdotally, I've found it's quite common with alot of European ESL speakers. I have worked with quite a few other people from varying countries, and it's somewhat common that they end many sentences sounding like a question.
JonnieCache 13y ago
The irish and welsh accents have always been like that. The welsh accent in particular modulates in pitch strongly throughout sentences, going up at the end is just part of it. There's a thing where it plunges right down in pitch and timbre at the end too, for a different kind of emphasis. I love welsh voices.
- keithpeter 13y ago
  I just heard great nana Parry telling me off when I read that (Nana spoke Welsh and a few words of English). If she was alive now, she would be about 140. Thanks. Reporters. Local. Might not be so easy for them to find jobs. But hopefully new media skills will help.

skannamalai 13y ago

I'm an American and I can't stand the mode of speech you've described. Unbelievably grating and disingenuous.

rdl 13y ago
The best way to wipe it out would be to do parody YouTube. Keeps of famous/consequential speeches or events recast into HRT. And hypothetical situations like HRT from an oncologist proposing treatment options.

vehementi 13y ago

That has always enraged me, thanks for putting into words.

diydsp 13y ago
It's not only unaesthetic, but also ^makes it harder to distinguish when people are actually asking questions^. For example, when someone says, "So, we're going there" with the high-rising terminal, uptalkers have polluted that resource which is spoken language to the point that it makes it harder to tell if the sentence was a question or an imperative.

davidw 13y ago

As an aside, I once met this German guy who spoke English pretty well, but tended to raise the pitch of his voice throughout the phrase (I think he may have done this in German too, but it was a long time ago and I don't really recall). But I guess he didn't know English quite well enough to get his timing 100% right, and sometimes on long sentences, he'd start running out of high notes to hit, which was kind of funny. Nice guy though, and he'd smile through it.

munificent 13y ago

That whole recording reads like: Yeah, so, like, we're firing you? But you can check your email until 5:30? Today? And we'll let you use your computer until the end of this week? Starting today? Best of luck?

rayiner 13y ago

Food for thought: http://jezebel.com/5973869/women-stop-talking-old-men-dont-like-how-you-speak http://jezebel.com/5973869/women-stop-talking-old-men-dont-l.... I personally find both vocal styles (along with very strong accents: http://paulgraham.com/accents.html http://paulgraham.com/accents.html) off-putting, but I don't really like the reasons why I do.