Locust Valley Lockjaw is the colloquial term for a stereotypical upper class American accent associated with elite residents of the New York metropolitan area, particularly those on the North Shore of Long Island. The accent takes its name from the hamlet of Locust Valley in Oyster Bay, whose exclusive country clubs (Piping Rock, Beaver Dam, Seawanhaka, & The Creek) have included speakers of the accent. The accent is typically non-rhotic and involves speaking while keeping the lips tight and jaw clenched and thrust forward.[1]
Individuals who have been described as affecting a recognizable Lockjaw accent include Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who learned it at Miss Porter's School and affected it sometime afterward. Eloise of the Plaza, the fictional heroine of many children's books, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, actress Katharine Hepburn, conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr., publisher and What's My Line personality Bennett Cerf, Jane Hathaway, the secretarial character on The Beverly Hillbillies, and Thurston Howell III, the millionaire character on the television series Gilligan's Island. An exaggerated version is semi-recurring Family Guy character James William Bottomtooth III who has an extreme underbite and can hardly be understood. A more classic example can be seen on the animated series The Critic in the character of Franklin Sherman. Wonderfully executed by Joanna Barnes in a satirical portrayal of society brat Gloria Upson in "Auntie Mame". She gushes with amused, feigned horror as she recounts a "final final" ping pong game (during which she accidentally stepped on and crushed a ball) and repeats "Well it was just ghahhhstly!" During the movie "Agent for H.A.R.M" on the comedy show Mystery Science Theater 3000, Mike Nelson and the 'bots deliver riffs in the accent to accompany scenes of the clean-cut, sweater-wearing villians.
References
Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier, Barbara A. Perry
See also
External links
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