If you’ve never heard of vocal fry (or glottalization), listen to Eleanor Wochtel (who I’ve loved for years) interview Julie Otsuka.
While Otsuka is perfectly capable of speaking in normal tones, she drops her tone at the end of each sentence, as if she wants to pretend she has no energy left to complete the utterance. And she does this on every sentence. Still an affectation of mostly young women and popularised by the execrable Britney Spears, I predict it will soon creep into the conversations of serious adults, just as high rising terminals (or “uptalk”) has in recent years.
Apparently, it’s not physically harmful, but I find it even more annoying than Albertan-born Corb Lund’s habit of singing his Stompin’ Tom Connors-style lyrics about Canadian themes while faking an Oklahoma twang.
guillermobarron 