VALSPEAK NOUN (YOUTH CULTURE)

A variety of US slang which originated among teenage girls from the San Fernando valley in California and was later taken up more widely by youngsters in the US. Etymology: A contraction of Valleyspeak, itself formed from the Valley of San Fernando Valley and -speak 'language', modelled on George Orwell's Newspeak and Oldspeak in the novel 1984. History and Usage: Valspeak, the language of the Valley girl, originated at the end of the seventies and was popularized under this name--or as Valleyspeak, Valley talk, or Valley Girl talk--from about 1982 onwards, especially by Frank Zappa's daughter Moon Unit. It is characterized by frequent repetition of certain 'filler' words (especially like and totally), emphasis on a small group of adjectives of approval or disapproval (see awesome, rad, tubular, and grody), abbreviation of words to a single syllable (see, for example, max), set phrases such as grody to the max and gag me with a spoon, and a dizzy, giggly, schoolgirl style of delivery. On the record, in pure, uncut Valspeak, Moon laments in bubbly staccato that, 'Like my mother like makes me do the dishes. It's like so gross.' People 13 Sept. 1982, p. 90