Valleyspeak
Valspeak is a common name for the dialect used by valley girls, stereotypical dumb blondes, living in the San Fernando Valley, with rich parents, a superficial social life and a lot of attention for fashion and parties. This stereotype originated in the 1970s, but was at its peak in the 1980s and still popular in the 1990s.
The term "Valley Girl" was given a wider circulation with the release of the record by Moon Unit Zappa, the then-14 year old daughter of Frank Zappa, which consisted of Moon speaking a series of meaningless phrases in "valspeak" behind the music.
Most of the quotes are taken from Amy Heckerling's 1995 movie Clueless, which focuses on the life of valley girl Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone).
Speech
Intonation
- Excessive use of high rising terminal. Statements have rising intonation.
But you were hardly even married to his mother and that was five years ago.
Emphasizers
- "totally"
I totally paused!
- "like"
So OK, you're probably thinking, "Is this, like, a Noxema commercial, or what?!"
- "why"
Oh, why that came out of nowhere.
- "duh!"
Did you write that? Duh, it's like a famous quote.
- "As... if!" (used to express distinct doubt)
Vocabulary
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| Airhead | An intellectual lightweight (e.g. a valley girl) |
| Baldwin | Handsome boy or man (from the Baldwin brothers) |
| Barf bag | Jerk |
| Betty | Beautiful girl or woman (presumably from the Betty Cooper character in the Archie comics) |
| Bitchin' | Cool |
| Dweeb | Nerd |
| Classic | Great |
| Fiesta | Party |
| Fer sure! | Certainly |
| Gag me with a spoon! | That's disgusting (from a method of inducing vomiting) |
| Gnarly | Good |
| Grody | Disgusting (e.g. grody to the max) (from "grotesque") |
| I'm so sure! | (spoken sarcastically) I don't believe you. |
| Joanie | Unhip girl (from the Joanie Cunningham character on Happy Days) |
| Loadie | Stoned boy or girl |
| Outtie | Out of here (e.g. I'm outtie) |
| Psych! | Just kidding |
| Rad | Very cool (from "radical") |
| Sketchy | Bad |
| To the max | More of the preceding adjective (e.g. grody to the max) |
| Tubular | Very cool |
| UVs | Sunshine. (e.g. I'm heading down to the beach to get some UVs.) |
| to Veg (out) | To rest (from "vegetate") |
See also
- Valspeak filter - a novelty program that translates English into Valspeak.