Are "Valley Girls" a thing anymore in LA? (Cerritos: house, high school)

[SeaOfGrass]

I don't know about Valley Girls, but "vocal fry" is alive and well.

[thenewtexan]

Originally Posted by urbancuriosity

Some of that lingo still continues. "Like," "totally," "like so totally" are still there but culture (or the media's depiction of it) has changed.

"Literally" is the new "totally."

[norman_w]

"Like" is used all over Salt Lake City

[TravelingBoat]

Originally Posted by Kings Gambit

LOL. Okay Tucker.

LA is not being "destroyed" by anyone. It will ALWAYS be one of the most desired places for people to move to / live in the WORLD!!

I lived in LA in the late 80's. It's nothing... NOTHING like it used to be. Never used to have homeless all over the place. And crime wasn't rampant like it is now. And we didn't have mayors covering up all the crime by lying with statistics, and DA's going to bat for criminals.

[Babe_Ruth]

Originally Posted by TravelingBoat

I lived in LA in the late 80's. It's nothing... NOTHING like it used to be. Never used to have homeless...

Yeah.. Valley Girls were both a generational & geographic phenomenon, that are long gone now.

Valley Girls were Gen Xers who are in their 4os & 5os now. And the Valley back in the 8os had a lot more native born Americans. The demographics of the Valley has changed a lot, etc. I remember the Valley Girl aesthetic spread thru the country back in the 8os. But if we're talking strictly about it's epicenter (Sherman Oaks, Encino, etc), Valley Girlism died 35 years ago. And couldn't be replicated today.. parts of the Valley are basically Third World now. And even the ol' Valley Girl mecca: Sherman Oaks Galleria was torn up & remodeled in to a different style about 25 years ago.

[Kings Gambit]

Originally Posted by Babe_Ruth

Yeah.. Valley Girls were both a generational & geographic phenomenon, that are long gone now.

Valley Girls were Gen Xers who are in their 4os & 5os now. And the Valley back in the 8os had a lot more native born Americans. The demographics of the Valley has changed a lot, etc. I remember the Valley Girl aesthetic spread thru the country back in the 8os. But if we're talking strictly about it's epicenter (Sherman Oaks, Encino, etc), Valley Girlism died 35 years ago. And couldn't be replicated today.. parts of the Valley are basically Third World now. And even the ol' Valley Girl mecca: Sherman Oaks Galleria was torn up & remodeled in to a different style about 25 years ago.

I agree with everything said here......except the "Third World" part. Sure there are some homeless, but many of the encampments have been cleaned up. But everything else said here is true. Valley Girls were/are Gen X'rs and I am not so sure where they all went. Sherman Oaks and Encino now is primarily Jewish, Persian Jewish and Russian families interspersed with professional athletes, rappers and actors here and there.

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by norman_w

"Like" is used all over Salt Lake City

My wife did her Ph.D. dissertation on the use of "like". It's no longer considered to be a Valley/L.A./California thing. It's basically part of Americana at this point.

For what it's worth, I hear "Valley Girl" accents everywhere. Even in the milquetoast Midwest. It's not as prevalent as it used to be when I grew up in the Valley in the late 90s, but it's definitely a staying and now pretty widespread phenomenon.

[Babe_Ruth]

Originally Posted by Kings Gambit

I agree with everything said here......except the "Third World" part. Sure there are some homeless, but many of the encampments have been cleaned up. But everything else said here is true. Valley Girls were/are Gen X'rs and I am not so sure where they all went. Sherman Oaks and Encino now is primarily Jewish, Persian Jewish and Russian families interspersed with professional athletes, rappers and actors here and there.

I appreciate your defense of the Valley.. but I think you're selectively presenting it.. the nice areas you're describing could be the Encino Hills etc.. but that would be the exception now. You omitted Van Nuys, Reseda, N Hollywood, etc and all the areas that are effectively turning in to Latin America. If you remember the Valley of the past, it was home to a lot of middle class Americans. It wasn't a stratified culture.. with small enclaves of wealthy middle Eastern people, surrounded by working class Latinos.

To your other thought.. if the middle-aged Valley Girls still live somewhere in LA County.. my guess is they moved up to Santa Clarita, which looks more like the culture they were raised in.. but will also eventually turn Third World. /peace

[SeaOfGrass]

Originally Posted by highlanderfil

My wife did her Ph.D. dissertation on the use of "like". It's no longer considered to be a Valley/L.A./California thing. It's basically part of Americana at this point.

For what it's worth, I hear "Valley Girl" accents everywhere. Even in the milquetoast Midwest. It's not as prevalent as it used to be when I grew up in the Valley in the late 90s, but it's definitely a staying and now pretty widespread phenomenon.

We were at lunch over the weekend, and a woman at the next table used "like" in almost every single sentence. It sounded like a spoof.

I actually think it can be useful as a term, but it does make you sound a little bubbleheaded.

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by SeaOfGrass

I actually think it can be useful as a term, but it does make you sound a little bubbleheaded.

Yeah, that was one of the takeaways of said dissertation, as well. But there were others, too. Like (lol) that it made you sound more approachable, down-to-Earth, and, surprise - American. So, many international students who wanted to preserve their identity consciously tried not to use it. But not all succeeded.