what is with this word?????

JJ   Sunday, October 17, 2004, 08:30 GMT
Why do, like, English speaking people, like, say 'like', like, every, like, 5 seconds? It like, sounds stupid and it, like, pisses me off. Like, where did this, like, incredibly lame, like, usage of such a, like, stupid word, like, come from? What, like, illiterate idiot, like, thought of it?
Boy   Sunday, October 17, 2004, 08:42 GMT
It looks like a kinda trendy stuff because I have heard educated people speaking like that. I'm sure that they don't write English that way. Everything is acceptable in the spoken language as long as the other person is understanding you. Well, you see, I daily listen to local FM radios where American born-local girls conduct western shows and they use "like" and "you know" and "what" like hell. Once I'm done with listening to their shows, I feel like having a headache! Even I don't gain new vocabulay words except those words. On the other hand, local born girls use a large variety of vocabulay words like "pop diva, tinsle town, platonic, spellbounding..etc".
Damian   Sunday, October 17, 2004, 08:43 GMT
Using "like" at the end of a statement shows lack of confidence in speech I think..it's quite common really and does piss you off after a while..... like. ;-) Such as saying "You know what I mean, like?" It's not really necessary. The same goes for "you know"......eg "It's the same for me, you know". I think that's even more common (common in the sense of being frequently used). It's superfluous to the meaning of what you're saying, or trying to say.
Mi5 Mick   Sunday, October 17, 2004, 08:46 GMT
Ah you know... like.... You know what I mean?
sergei   Sunday, October 17, 2004, 18:18 GMT
all those words such as "like" and "you know" are simply speech stallers. people say them in order to fill the void while they try to think of what to say and in order to add a level of humbleness, uncertainty, and a lack of assertiveness. this is simply an american cultural attribute.

for example, when i student in america writes an e-mail to a professor and has a request, most students (i know that i do it myself, although i try not to...it depends on the personality of the professor) will make the request by using "i was just wondering if" in order to not sound so direct and authoritative. so if one were to take this example to the extreme, you might see something in an e-mail along the lines of:

"i was wondering if you could perhaps let me know when it is that you think i could possibly retake the quiz, if this is at all possible, because i was just curious to know whether or not this is allowed, since......" and so forth.

as you can see, it presents humbleness and shows the student to be below the professor on the totem pole, so to speak because the student's grade depends on the professor's disposition and so the student does not want to offend for fear of getting a failing grade.
same thing goes for employees and employers, since people are so afraid to get fired these days, not even from mcdonalds! no one wants to be blacklisted from future job opportunities, no matter what the level of their job secruity is. it almost reminds me of ancient witch hunts or of soviet russia or east germany times.


this attitude and fear and fakeness and sycophancy is an awful practice but it has unfortunately become a habit of self-perpetuating doom. in informal language, therefore, we see much more of this, so people begin using "like" and "you know" as a way of constantly asking for the other person's approval and reassurance of one's own thoughts.

because in america, nobody wants to offend anyone because people usually will outcast you and refuse to talk to you if your opinions differ from theirs in even the slightest bit. one cannot even talk about one's political beliefs because if you are for kerry and the person you are talking to is for bush, the conversation ends at that moment (or tapers off to an awkward silence).

i'm interested to know whether others share this observation of american culture (and perhaps it is the same way in europe and other parts of the world).

and that brings me to my final point:

i was just wondering, if like, you know, if perhaps maybe any of you could possibly, like, let me know...(haha)

what do other languages have as speech stallers that are similar to the words "like" and "you know"?

in russian we use "typa" and "zhe" and "ny" frequently, but what about french, german, or even chinese?
Mxsmanic   Sunday, October 17, 2004, 18:30 GMT
I use like a great deal in conversation, mostly to sound more casual and to compensate for shyness. Speaking as I write would put people off in most cases.
Julian   Sunday, October 17, 2004, 20:15 GMT
<<all those words such as "like" and "you know" are simply speech stallers. people say them in order to fill the void while they try to think of what to say and in order to add a level of humbleness, uncertainty, and a lack of assertiveness. this is simply an american cultural attribute. ...in informal language, therefore, we see much more of this, so people begin using "like" and "you know" as a way of constantly asking for the other person's approval and reassurance of one's own thoughts. >>

I don't think that's the case, sergei. People use "like" and "y'know" as speech fillers -- nothing more, nothing less. It is usually teens, young adults, and people who aren't adept at verbally expressing themselves who pick up this habit. I've heard many teens and young adults speak this way, and believe me, they are far from humble nor do they care how direct and authoritative they appear to their teachers and professors.

<< same thing goes for employees and employers, since people are so afraid to get fired these days, not even from mcdonalds! no one wants to be blacklisted from future job opportunities, no matter what the level of their job secruity is. it almost reminds me of ancient witch hunts or of soviet russia or east germany times. >>

Hunh? Nobody ever wants to get fired (this is not a new trend), but there are certain "mcjobs" where getting canned is no big stain on your employment record. If anything, there are quite a few people who'd actually like to get pinkslipped so that they can collect unemployment.

<< because in america, nobody wants to offend anyone because people usually will outcast you and refuse to talk to you if your opinions differ from theirs in even the slightest bit. one cannot even talk about one's political beliefs because if you are for kerry and the person you are talking to is for bush, the conversation ends at that moment (or tapers off to an awkward silence). >>

I don't know if that's been your experience, but certainly not mine. A healthy dose of political friction is not going to keep me from associating with people whose beliefs and opinions differ from mine. Granted, I'm not going to go all at and try to be his best friend, but I'm certainly not going to treat him as an outcast. This may not be the case for others, but you'd have to look at it on a case by case basis rather than on generalized national perceptions. You make it seem like we live in a facist state. Thankfully, we're not there yet, but 4 more yrs of the current administration is probably going to do the trick.
sergei   Sunday, October 17, 2004, 20:50 GMT
by speech stallers, i meant the same thing as speech fillers, julian. same thing. completely. i think you missed the point. you added the part about being inept at verbally communicating. that's what i mean exactly. they cannot express themselves well enough to be smooth and consistent, so they have to fill their speech with nonsense words in order to buy time to think of what it is they are trying to say. speaker's block, i suppose it is.

i don't about you, but the people i associate with are always afraid of getting fired. and people have outcasted me all the time because i say something that is outlandish (that is, it sparks interest and debate instead of just being about the weather or yesterday's baseball game). i guess i'm coming from an upper class frame of mind because the people i associate with are upper middle class people (mostlry ivy league university students). when i talk to lower class people, however, everything is fine and none of them are uptight or fake, which is why i love them so.
sergei   Sunday, October 17, 2004, 20:52 GMT
anyway, i want to hear examples of "like" and "you know" type words of other languages, so have at it please.
mjd   Sunday, October 17, 2004, 21:40 GMT
I don't think these things are as big a deal as Sergei is making them out to be....getting fired? McDonalds? Huh? These fillers are sometimes used to make one appear humble, but they certainly aren't limited to that.

I say these things too in my casual speech. As Julian said, they're merely fillers and they do exist in other languages as well. When one overuses these "fillers," it can become annoying, but speaking as one writes tends to sound ridiculous.

One of my Brazilian professors was always in the habit of saying "bom" (Portuguese for "good") before moving on to another topic. I knew an English guy who always tacked on a "yeah" or a "right" at the end of everything he said.
Julian   Sunday, October 17, 2004, 22:56 GMT
I apologize for missing your point, sergei. I agree that "like" and "you know" are speech stallers, but you gave the impression that you believe these speech stallers are used intentionally to convey humility and subservience rather than just the plain old bad habits of the inarticulate and the casual, which is usually the case.
_____

I think in Spanish, the word "pues" is frequently used as filler:

repito, pues, que hace bien (I repeat, then, that he's doing the right thing)
pues bien (well then)
¡pues claro! (of course!)
¿pues qué? (so what?)
sí pues (yes, of course)
pues, aquí estamos... (well, here we are...)
Xatufan   Sunday, October 17, 2004, 23:15 GMT
Pues cuando era menor, mi palabra favorita, pues, era "pues".

Pues, los mexicanos tienen una variante "pos"

Pos órale güey