When – and why – did raising the pitch of one’s voice to the highest falsetto when saying goodbye become a thing?

9 comments

1. I can’t say I know what you mean at all. I’ve lived in the UK all my life, but I don’t think I’ve heard someone do that!

2. “Is English becoming a tonal language?” I think it always has been, much more so than French for example. You can affect the meaning of a sentence just by changing the way in which it is said. Take the phrase “what are you eating?” for example. Depending on the tone it’s either a simple question or an implication you are eating something disgusting

3. “Bye bye driver!”

4. Never heard of that in my life. I do know BYE BYE bye bye byebyebyebye to end a phonecall but it’s just said in a normal tone.

5. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qpmFnUTkpL0

6. It’s always been a thing AFAIK. All languages are tonal to a certain extent which is why it’s odd to our ears when we hear robots read things. See also [recitative](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recitative) (mainly used in opera)

7. I’m definitely not sat at home now saying ‘bye!’ to nobody to see if it’s true

8. And why do young women/girls who work in shops suddenly develop a falsetto tone as well?

9. OP I’ve heard plenty of people do this frequently. The people saying they’ve never heard this in their life must not interact with many people.