‘Screamed at’

[dandelionandbirdcock]

I’ve noticed lots of posts on here recently where someone has been ‘screamed at.’ At first I thought ‘wow sounds extreme.’ But now I’ve seen it so many times I think people are using it to mean ‘shouted’ or ‘yelled.’ Screaming literally means screaming, as in, a loud piercing high-pitched noise. No words would be heard, it’s just a noise.
As you can probably tell, I find it really annoying. 😂

Sometimes it genuinely is a scream though. My old next door neighbour did it daily, an awful high pitched scream with words in. Really hard to interpret. Much higher pitched than a shout/yell or even a shriek, really (although shriek, screech and I think scream are all from the same word).

My other NND is a man and he yells his insults. Sometimes rising to a shriek, never a scream.

I've seen people use it to mean "state an opinion thats different from mine." I think it's their way of trying to make the person seem more unreasonable.
Eg. I think X and I know I'll get people screaming Y.
Quite an irritating use of it.

I agree. There’s a difference that is lost on many people. No one in Pedants Corner though- and I have omitted the apostrophe on purpose

I agree OP. I can imagine people raise their voices or shout, but literally screaming as often as is described on MN? Nope, I don't believe it.

Its meanings also include shouting or yelling in a shrill manner. It's had this sense for a long time.

I was chided for questioning if someone was actually being screamed at which demonstrates a complete lack of control. I wonder how many people actually mean shouting or a raised voice. It's difficult to gauge the situation.

I think on MN it usually just means a raised voice or maybe a shout. Otherwise there's a lot of people losing control out there!

Really @RickiRaccoon? I’ve never heard it used in any context other than the correct one until fairly recently. I wondered whether it was just a new (annoying) development but maybe it depends where you’re from.

“Children are dirty and stinky!” screamed The Grand High Witch.

The Witches, Roald Dahl. 1983

Well this is a timely thread. I was just reading the thread about being screamed at for not liking a particular food and thought to myself 'hmm screamed, really?'

Probably spoke loudly or bellowed maybe.

Ooh that’s interesting @EngineEngineNumber9 I don’t remember that at all. Maybe I’m wrong then. I still think it sounds weird and most people do mean ‘shouted at’ or something similar, surely? No-one’s ever screamed at me. Maybe I’ve just been lucky.

Aaand she was right!
😂

Ah yes. People also seem to use ‘squawked’ or ‘bleated’ or ‘frothed’ in this way.

This is one of my favourite things to feel irritated by on MN.

@Drivingoverlemons There are so many but this is definitely one of the best.

Can I ask an adjacent question please? What exactly do the assembled pedants think 'raising your voice' means? To me it means speaking louder - whether angrily or merely to be heard. But I've also come across blokes chiding women for 'raising their voices' if the pitch is raised, as can happen involuntarily under stress. The voice may be 'raised' in frequency but not volume ... I don't think this is an appropriate usage. What do you reckon?

To me, a raised voice is definitely raised in volume, not pitch. But I don’t know what I’d say in the other instance 🤔

Raised voice is shouting isn't it?

Don't these pricks men usually chide you for your tone?

Oh no, lots of people do scream. Because it hurts the ears more that way.

Others shriek (but if you describe it as that, you get a pile on got misogyny), others howl, wail, keen like a Ban Sidhe, bark, bellow and roar at you.

You just have to work with the public more to get the full extent and variety of 'voice = used as weapon'.

I find it extremely annoying. My ex used to accuse me of screaming. I didn't ever scream at him. I have a loud voice, but I never screamed. It was just him gaslighting.

It’s an annoying Americanism. Kids use it a lot.

Yes, it seems to have become a fairly regular MN thing.

Thought you might like this;

https://langeek.co/en/grammar/course/1842/scream-vs-shout

My DD used to frequently accuse people of screaming at her.

Having been on the receiving end of said accusations, I know what this actually means is "speaking at a normal volume in a slightly sharp tone".

It's more of a UK slang thing in my experience. In North America "scream" is used almost exclusively to describe a high pitched cry of fear, rage or for help, but I have seen lots of people from the UK using it in place of shout. In N. America we tend to use "yell" more often than "shout" as well. I couldn't even count all the women on here I've seen say; "He's screamed at me." about their partners, whereas an American would probably say; "He yelled at me."