Is the Valley Girl accent the most stereotypical accent in California?

17 comments

1. I think its just the one that is most distinct.

2. Surfer dude comes to my mind too.

3. Is it still a thing? I remember it from the 80s but don’t think I’ve heard anyone talk like that in years.

4. It’s up there

5. Most people in CA speak with a General American Accent. The valley girl accent isn’t very common and neither is the surfer accent. I come from a beach city and there are people with the surfer accent, but it’s not really common.

6. Vallley Girl is probably the most stereotyped, but I doubt its very common. I don’t live in CA, but I visit often. I think I’ve heard it in the flesh once, but oh boy, did it fit the stereotype. I stopped off in Palm Springs for a dinner. Walking towards me were three absolute epitomes of the California girl stereotype, dressed for a night out on the town. High heels, long coiffures hair, make-up, cocktail dresses and phones out taking selfies. I only caught one thing any of them said, but it was the most California sentence I’ve ever heard: “I haven’t totally been out in, like, forever.” Emphasis on the final R of “forevurrrrr”.

7. Yes it is, see the movie “Clueless”

8. Like, you know, whatever.

9. Stereotypical, yes, but it’s really not as common as you think. At least not anymore. Most of us Californians have a very nondescript accent, even somewhat monotone.

10. Affluent whites are over represented in movies and television shows set in Southern California, so naturally that accent becomes the dominant stereotype outside of California, but it is far from a universal accent inside the state and it is not even remotely the most common.

11. Kinda, but usually among females, also Elaine’s roommate sounds like one. Basically they sound as though they are not completely interested in anything other people have to say.

    For the Southern California men, they seem to talk more like a surfer, although some has a lisp, not sure why so native native California young adult males have a lisp, it’s a bit annoying.

12. I think pot head accent is the most stereotypical and realistically common. You’ll find it in all regions of California. I haven’t heard surfer dude accent in years and I’ve never heard the valley girl accent in real life. I’ve only seen it on tv and feel like if I see it in real life its an act/fake. I’d also expect to hear valley girl only in the rich areas of LA.

13. Fer sher

14. That and the male equivalent of stoner surfer dude, yeah.

    I won’t call them the most accurate, but they are definitely the most stereotypical.

15. Just as many of us sound like Merle Haggard.

    I kind of do.

16. I’m a native and I’ve been told I’ve had a British accent a few times, someone told me I sounded like people from Wyoming or Montana, something weird… But I worked with this guy from Boston for like a week who was obsessed with how we talked in slang, like, he was blown away by the use of “gnarly” and other stuff…. to be fair It was like me and this other surfer guy talking a lot about surfing so he’s getting a heavy dose of just the language.

    I weirdly think spanish has probably influenced annunciation quite a bit. While obviously not everyone actually speaks spanish, so much stuff around here is named in spanish that we end up actually speaking more spanish than we think just talking about geography.

    I have no idea what’s up with my accent…. I grew up literally all over the state, but never outside of it. I suspect some of it has to do with the cadence in which I speak, apparently my brother and I are very distinct in how we talk, but also write, which is kind of weird because I was significantly older than him and growing up we weren’t particularly close, though I will admit it’s most likely based on my dad’s speech, which is somewhat similar.

17. No, at least not in Northern California.