Today I came home on a long bus trip accompanied by, among others, four North American (judging by their accents) young women who, like, kept, like, saying "like", like all the time. I'm like pretty easy-going as far as language goes but sometimes the "likes" like outnumbered the other words. Is this, like, an overall trend or did I, like, happen upon some linguistic mutants?
North American English
ez seems to have the same experience as I have but then with the constant "Well,you know what I mean" behind every sentence.
There's all sorts of particles/tags/etc. like this. I think "like" is the most popular. I use it, but not as much as certain high school girls. The one I find annoying is "know what I'm sayin'."
When they were showing the Boston Pops 4th of July special on TV this year, they asked people on the street what they thought the celebrations symbolized. There was one teenage girl who said, "It shows how we're so, like, united." I just thought it was hilarious.
Used in this context, "like" is what is called in grammar or linguistics an "intensifier." People first began using it in Southern California perhaps as far back as the 1950's. However, it was made famous by Moon Zappa and the valley girls in the early 1980's. Since then, it has spread to most parts of the United States and the more urbanized parts of Canada. California is probably still its main "nuclear zone", however. In Washington State where I live, it is most likely to be heard among newcomers from California rather than native Washingtonians who are actually pretty conservative once you get outside of Seattle and slow to adopt "hip" expressions.
The area of linguistics which studies linguistic phenomena such as this ("He, like slapped me in the face" ; "The baby does, like, magic tricks "etc.) is called "Sociolinguistics" - the study of languages in relation to social groups.
(INTENSIFIER - some definitions off the internet,,,
http://www.infoplease.com/ipd/A0492948.html
http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAnIntensifier.htm )
The area of linguistics which studies linguistic phenomena such as this ("He, like slapped me in the face" ; "The baby does, like, magic tricks "etc.) is called "Sociolinguistics" - the study of languages in relation to social groups.
(INTENSIFIER - some definitions off the internet,,,
http://www.infoplease.com/ipd/A0492948.html
http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAnIntensifier.htm )
Re: The one I find annoying is "know what I'm sayin'."
I readily agree with Tom K. here. It seems to be more of a Southern expression. At least, the people I've heard using it in Seattle (White and Black) have been newcomers from the South.
I readily agree with Tom K. here. It seems to be more of a Southern expression. At least, the people I've heard using it in Seattle (White and Black) have been newcomers from the South.
I'm an unashamed frequent user of "like"--however, at least in the linguistic context here, my usage of it is no more than the people around me. It's definitely not restricted to the young and females--guys may use it just as often and I've heard many a middle-aged person use "like"--altho most probably not to the extent that some younger people do. I don't happen to view it as a bad thing, as it's quite useful, filling semantic usages in natural speech that otherwise would have to be expressed by lengthy circumlocutions. Linguistic studies have found it's not necessarily a vapid "filler" word but one that is used for many different syntatic and semantic purposes.
The word of choice in my circles is `so'. So, I use it a lot. So, it goes at the beginning of the sentence. So, once one person starts to use it, everybody else starts to use it too. So, I had to unlearn it because it is so annoying.
I find that I actually use "like" more frequently when I'm uncomfortable, almost as if I were trying to slow down or dilute the sentence I'm saying.
I was in New york this summer and this Taxi driver kept saying "i mean you could bla bla " i mean i mean
Although I respect the decision of everyone else, about how to live their own lives, and that includes the way they express themselves.
I believe that "Fashion adoption", specially the linguistic one ...
*Reflects mind weakness as an individual.
*The poverty of vocabulary and cultural abilities.
*Mental laziness.
*Typical crowd behavior.
Fortunately the world is big enough for all of us. And we always have the privilege of choice.
Regards.
I believe that "Fashion adoption", specially the linguistic one ...
*Reflects mind weakness as an individual.
*The poverty of vocabulary and cultural abilities.
*Mental laziness.
*Typical crowd behavior.
Fortunately the world is big enough for all of us. And we always have the privilege of choice.
Regards.
Adam, (aka |||) if you're going to make a post at least be bold enough to use your name. Your prolific use of "mental laziness" to describe the way someone speaks is a dead give away.