In her novel Bellwether, Connie Willis (or, rather, her protagonist) is looking for a source of fads in the society. This article supports the suspicion of the author -- that the fads are started by teenage girls who use certain behaviors, such as vocal patterns, to fit in and create their mini-communities. Having started, the fads then spread into the rest of the society.
So, the next time you're annoyed by your teenage sister/daughter/neighbor/secretary saying "like totally", look at her with a new respect -- she is the driver of change in the American society. I wonder, however, if the fads started by teenage girls spread so easily through the communities where women and men do not communicate as much.
Now we need to figure out who started the fad of speaking like a redneck cargo ship captain that all "screaming neo-con" radio hosts have adopted.
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