Kardashian followers are hurting their, like, vocal cords.
The guttural “vocal fry” sounds could prove dangerous for those who parrot the vocal style of some celebrities.
Stars like Kim Kardashian and Britney Spears, who are known to speak with the low pitch “uhhh” sound along with words such as “like” that exemplify vocal fry, inspire many people to pick up the potentially detrimental habit.
“If you do it enough you can create a lot of tiredness in your voice,” said Judith Wingate, clinical associate professor and speech-language pathologist at UF. “It can lead you to squeeze the muscles in the throat and cause problems.”
She continued: “Essentially what’s happening is the vocal folds are closed longer than they’re open as you speak, so you get this creaky popping sound.”
Vocal frying can cause wear on vocal cords, and can be heard in everyday speech.
“We hear vocal fry in young ladies who are trying to sound more mature, and young men who are trying to sound more macho,” said Ronald Burrichter, professor of music at UF.
Professional football players typically end their careers by 35 due to the abuse on their bodies — and the same reasoning applies to celebrities who use vocal fry as a type of style, Burrichter said.
“In order to be a more effective communicator, you need to take the time to figure out how to properly articulate your thoughts to others,” said Danielle Espino, a 20-year-old linguistics junior at UF.
There are certain measures that can be taken to avoid the negative effects of vocal fry.
“Vary your pitch, and make sure you’re using sufficient air when you speak,” said Wingate. “To be on the safe side, I wouldn’t recommend people do (vocal fry) for more than a couple of minutes a day.”
Burrichter said celebrities who are frying their voices are more concerned about making money than they are about the health of their voices.
“The voice is a finite instrument, it is not indestructible,” Burrichter said. “Once it is injured, it is never quite the same.”
A version of this story ran on page 8 on 9/10/2013 under the headline "Talking like Kardashians could fry vocal cords"
