Using the word "like" ten times in every sentence..

cucbuc

I was wondering if anyone had pondered this on boards previously. I'd imagine so but I cant find a thread. I sat on a train for an hour yesterday and had my ears tortured the entire time by 4 teenagers who (seriously) couldn't form a sentence without using "like" at least 3 times. This drives me insane... Its an irritating trend that seems to have stemmed from American TV shows and spread like(<<correct use of the word!!) a virus here over the last few years. Does anyone else hate this as much as I do? It's. like, SO the opposite of articulate, like.("So" is a rant for another day,like):eek:

looksee

The parrot gene in teenagers causes this necessity to copy their peers' style of speech. There is always some word or phrase that has to be incorporated into every utterance, if you got rid of 'like' another one would evolve. Like 'cool' or 'deadly' or 'seriously', or of course the 'f-ing' that is used as an adjective and an alternative to thought, and not just in teens.

koganei12

You can't really be prescriptive of grammar that way. These things just evolve. They do not indicate a lack of intelligence nor of verbosity. I use "like" in a similar fashion quite a lot. I don't know what I'd say if I didn't have such a word. It's a filler word that is semantically void and is just used as a stop-gap to collect one's thoughts so as to make a more concise utterance following the "like". I agree that it's a trend more among the young than the older generation, but telling them that they sound idiotic just makes you seem like a stuffy, pompous git, whose opinion is that your own form of speech is the only correct one. We communicate just fine with the use of "like" thanks. If you're annoyed by it that's your problem.

VERYinterested

Op, you should hop on the Luas. 'Like' is another way of saying 'I said' as in "I was like, so what?" "And she was like SHUT UP" "So I was like, what's your problem, you're soooo random!"

All of these people want to be individuals yet they all wear Abercrombie & Fitch hoodies, baggy trackie bottoms, doobs and expensive silver hand bags that would hold a football kit. Usually they are about 12 to 15 years of age, heading for the Dundrum Town Centre.

Best cure is an iPod and headphones that don't let any noise in or out.

cucbuc

I have 2 teenagers myself so I don't lose any sleep over it, nor take it too seriously.;)

MathsManiac

Did you catch Joseph O'Connor's radio diary on the subject some time ago?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx-siLoRmgc

cucbuc

Hi, thanks, no I hadn't heard it till now:eek:. Argh! I couldn't listen to it all because it was just too long and too realistic!

stimpson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgpFwzEwZa4

I weep for the future...

evercloserunion

koganei12 wrote: »

You can't really be prescriptive of grammar that way. These things just evolve. They do not indicate a lack of intelligence nor of verbosity. I use "like" in a similar fashion quite a lot. I don't know what I'd say if I didn't have such a word. It's a filler word that is semantically void and is just used as a stop-gap to collect one's thoughts so as to make a more concise utterance following the "like". I agree that it's a trend more among the young than the older generation, but telling them that they sound idiotic just makes you seem like a stuffy, pompous git, whose opinion is that your own form of speech is the only correct one. We communicate just fine with the use of "like" thanks. If you're annoyed by it that's your problem.

sent from my iPhone

mike65

"Like" is the new "Y'know" y'know?

cucbuc

Agreed. I'm wondering now...how long will it be fashionable for ..or will it stay forever LIKE this. I can remember the time BEFORE so maybe there will be an after....:)

stimpson

I'm sure it will evolve into "ummmm" before transitioning to "durrrr" until most teenagers will just sit there staring into space, drooling like someone who has been lobotomised.

cucbuc

stimpson wrote: »

I'm sure it will evolve into "ummmm" before transitioning to "durrrr" until most teenagers will just sit there staring into space, drooling like someone who has been lobotomised.

:eek::eek:I hope not. On a positive note, I have to say, I admire how most teenagers of this generation are far more confident and mature than my friends and I would have been when young.
I suppose the basic need to belong is strongest in the teenage years and common teenage type phrases are a symptom of that natural instinct to blend in, as an earlier poster mentioned. "Like" is possibly more irritating because it seems to have originated from Irish kids mimicking kids in US shows/films...I wonder where those US kids got it from..?
I'm aware 50 years ago the wise ones might have tsked at my use of the word "kids" instead of "children"...but the amount of times I use it in one sentence is limited!

cucbuc

cucbuc wrote: »

:eek::eek:I hope not. On a positive note, I have to say, I admire how most teenagers of this generation are far more confident and mature than my friends and I would have been when young.
I suppose the basic need to belong is strongest in the teenage years and common teenage type phrases are a symptom of that natural instinct to blend in, as an earlier poster mentioned. "Like" is possibly more irritating because it seems to have originated from Irish kids mimicking kids in US shows/films...I wonder where those US kids got it from..?
I'm aware 50 years ago the wise ones might have tsked at my use of the word "kids" instead of "children"...but the amount of times I use it in one sentence is limited!

Laughing at myself as I've just realised I used it 3 times.:D