"If you say 'like' one more time, I'm gonna lose my shit." These were the words uttered to me through gritted teeth as I sat in green plastic patio furniture on a humid summer night a few years back.

Journalist Jessica Grose is no stranger to criticism of her voice. When she was co-hosting the Slate podcast, the DoubleX Gabfest, she would receive emails complaining about her "upspeak" — a tendency ...

At age 50, I qualified for my AARP Card, entitling me to senior citizen discounts. Years later, I earned my Curmudgeon Card. This license allows us old folks to complain about even the smallest, most ...

Since my first appearance on the DoubleX Gabfest podcast back in 2009, listeners have complained about my incessant “upspeak.” Otherwise known as the high-rising terminal declarative, upspeak or ...

An error has occurred. Please try again. With a Centralmaine.com subscription, you can gift 5 articles each month. It looks like you do not have any active ...

Writing in the New Yorker recently, essayist Adam Gopnik made a strong defence of the teenage habit of punctuating every sentence with such terms as "um", "you know" and "like". He had argued the case ...

AUSTRALIAN ‘upspeak’ is frowned upon in the UK. Teachers are being discouraged from sounding Aussie and some employers are not hiring those who sound Australian. But the spread of the Aussie ...

With its upward tone at the end of a sentence, ‘upspeak’ has become an increasingly familiar sound since Neighbours arrived on our televisions in the mid-1980s. But the spread of the irritating habit ...

Journalist Jessica Grose, linguistics professor Penny Eckert and speech pathologist Susan Sankin discuss upspeak, vocal fry and why women's voices... From Upspeak To Vocal Fry: Are We 'Policing' Young ...