On "Like"


The plethora of uses for "like" in modern american vernacular has been the screech in the ear or the linquistic norm comforter (creating a sort-of cadence in the ear) for users of our language for some time. Since 1982 we have or have not tried to avoid sounding like a Valley Girl, and for even longer we have or have not wanted to sound similar Scoobie's friend, like, Shaggy.

let this second paragraph sit as an aside: for i don't know how long, the use of "so" to end a sentence, as a sort-of trailing of, is creeping up as the next rhetorical institution with which to be dealt...soooo....(miles presciently asks, so what?)

"Like" now has a numer of uses apart from its comparitive origins. Most are oral, such as the place holder (Well, like, I think we're doing X); the verbal quote (and I was like, my name is Andrew); and the verbal approximation (it's, like, lunchtime) where written language would normally use "about."

While for the most part I am no fan of "like," I do have 1) a curiosity on one aspect; and 2) an approved use.

To the extent "like" has become a verbal filler of space, in place of ummm, the usage is more annoying. Especially when placed in the beginning of a sentence. "Like....wherever you want to go." It seems to have the connotation of eyes rolling, uncertainty, or adolescence. My curiosity is this: why does it feel right in the mouth? ummmm feels sort of like a thoughtful hum whilst forming thoughts...it sort of keeps the throat moving while grasping fo rthe next kernel. Like is the opposite. It abrubtly stops the sound with a hard k sound.

Also, ummm forms in the face a sense of contemplation. Lips are sealed lest we release the wrong words. Like forms on the face a sort of grimmace. A teeth bearing almost cattiness.

All the same, potentially the most annoying (to the ear) usages is also the one I think most suitable for ocnversation. This is the approximate quotative. It is used when summarizing a prior converstion. He was, like, i think X; and I was, like, I think Y.

When relaying prior conversations, the truth of what was actually said is usually lost in the relay. The child's game of telephone so prooves. Using "like" conveys some sense of acknowledging this fact. It relieves the speaker of exact quotation and warns the hearer that the third party involved in the prior conversation might well have a different idea of what wa said. "Like," then, almost is used as a rule of evidence to allow hearsay evidence.

A second curiosity: I was trying to think of what we used for summary information of a prior conversation before "like." Did we say, "well, so and so said something approximately along the lines of, 'I think X'."?