"Uptalk," "Vocal Fry," etc.

       There's worry about teenagers adopting certain speech traits which are au courant amongst their friends but offensive or annoying to their elders, including potential employers.

       One of these traits is an upward inflection at the end of declarative sentences, changing a statement into a question and doing it habitually.  The other is taking on a kind of gravelly voice into which meaningful utterances tend to disappear.

       This reminded me of when I was teaching speech to New York City college kids.  We tried to get rid of ng clicks ("Long  Gisland" ), intrusive r's ("Genar and Bob went to a movie"), saying "toime" for "time,"etc.

        A doctoral study found that those same kids who habitually spoke this way among peers would, without instruction, virtually eliminate these "faults" during job interviews.