So "creakin'" annoying!

This SNL bad news commercial skit, besides being hilarious, is highly relevant for linguists interested in the social meaning of a popular form of phonation used by young American women: creaky voice. The star of the skit uses serious creak at the end of phrases and on words like, "apologize," "that," "is," etc. SNL's view of women using creaky voice? OBNOXIOUS.

Glamour magazine also joins in the conversation on creak in their April 2011 issue with an article called, "You're a bright woman! So...What did you just say?" Among its advice to women interviewing for jobs is to:

• avoid "upspeak" - ending non-interrogative sentences with high intonation
• get "like-osuction" (i.e. stop using "like" so much)
• and avoid creaky voice

The article makes frequent reference to a speech therapist by the last name, Chwat (seriously?), who says this type of voice sounds like, "crackling in a frying pan." Among the many attributes creak can index, according to Glamour and Chwat, are: sexy, uncertain, annoying and smugness.

Finally, another very modern example of female creak in the media is Mary-Kate Olsen's interview voice. Sexy? Uncertain? Annoying? Smug? (perhaps all of the above?)