Vocal fry is taking over the world — and we might have celebrities to thank for it.
Though concern about the prevailing speech pattern used by the Kardashians, Britney Spears and more female celebs has been around for several years, the vocal-fry-related panic seemed to crystalize Tuesday when a grandmother wrote to the Washington Post to discuss her 8-year-old granddaughter’s vocal fry, which she described as “fingernails on the chalkboard.” For the uninitiated, folks with vocal fry often sound like they were abruptly awoken from a deep, deep slumber. Their voices sound creaky, croaky, rough — with the last syllable of every spoken word dragging on and on.
Vocal fry is even garnering great concern from Hollywood stars. As Lake Bell so brilliantly put it during a 2013 appearance on Conan, vocal fry is “festering through this great nation and it could be our demise.”
“There is a pandemic that is rampant in this country, and it’s the ‘Sexy Baby Vocal Virus.’ It’s girls who talk like that and adopt that. But it’s not their fault,” Bell said. “Grown women … are victimized. They have fallen prey to something, and it’s two things. It’s pitch, so it’s talking really high. And it’s also the affectation, which is the fry and up-talking.”
To experience (or relive) vocal fry (you brave, brave souls), keep scrolling for memorable examples in pop culture, from pretty much all the times the Kardashians speak on Keeping Up with the Kardashians to Britney Spears’ “… Baby One More Time.”
(Apologies in advance for the auditory assault.)
1. Lake Bell Mimics Girls with Vocal Fry
After hearing her rant about how vocal fry is taking over the world on Conan, we just knew we had to include the actress’ own rendition of the ever-popular ‘Sexy Baby Vocal Virus.’
2. Saturday Night Live Spoofs Kim Kardashian West and Kris Humphries’ Short-Lived Marriage …
… and we were treated to SNL alum Nasim Pedrad’s flawless take on Kim’s voice.
3. Britney Spears Belts It Out in ‘… Baby One More Time’
Actually, this one is fine with us. No complaints. (Mostly because preteen-aged us would claim blasphemy.)
4. Laura-Leigh Confronts Jax on Vanderpump Rules
The true travesty is that we haven’t seen SUR-ver Laura-Leigh since season 1 of the Bravo show.
5. Kourtney Kardashian Tells Scott Disick She’s Pregnant with Their Third Baby
Kourtney wastes no time in delivering the big news to her then-boyfriend, doing so while sitting on her closet floor.
6. Paris Hilton Gives Tarot Card Readings on The Simple Life
But not everything is how it seems, as the heiress revealed in 2016. “This is actually my real voice,” a deeper-voiced Hilton insisted during a Today interview, acknowledging the “baby voice I used to use” on her reality show. “I actually have a low voice in real life.”
7. Khloé Kardashian Imitates Kourtney Kardashian
This wasn’t the first time the youngest Kardashian sister made us laugh while poking fun at Kourtney’s vocal fry, but it’s certainly one of Khloé’s most memorable impressions.
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