The modern usages of ‘like’ in English

[+ Tarte Gogo]

This is something I felt compelled to write for myself after listening to an episode of the podcast “Lexicon Valley” by John Mcwhorter.

 

God, I love linguistics.

 

The usages of ‘like’ in modern English.

 

1. Verb (no need to explain)

‘I like this.’

 

2. Meaning Similar to (also no need to explains)

‘I saw a large animal, like a bear.’

 

3. At the beginning of a clause, it can mean for example.

The path to this is the example in #2, but said with a pause, as in the following sentence:

‘I saw a large animal, like, maybe a bear?’

Then: ‘He went home very late, like, at 2 am’

A young listener of the above could think that ‘like’ was used, not to say similarly to, but as a specific way to say ‘for example’. And so, he then says:

‘I love Rachel. Like, she is so bubbly and funny.’

And there you have ‘like’, at the beginning of a sentence, now meaning something that is very much like ‘for example’.

 

4. At the end of a sentence, signaling humility

This is the most controversial and the path is not obvious unless you string out several sentences as examples, and imagine each generation absorbing that sentence with a slightly different meaning.

 

a. ‘I saw a large animal, like a bear’ the speaker here means similar to. But the listener understands it as also signaling ‘uncertainty’. The speaker is not sure. So, to a young listener, you can use ‘like’ to express that you are not certain.

 

b. A generation later a speaker says ‘it is happening, like, all the time’. He means I think it is happening all the time. He is not really sure. But a young listener can understand that he uses ‘like’ to not sound too certain, which would quite arrogant. We can see that to claim to know something for sure when in fact you are uncertain would not be humble enough. So ‘like’ signaling uncertainty starts to be understood as a nice way to signal humility.

 

c. A generation later, that listener says ‘It is not a good idea, like...’ and stops right there. He means simply to signal humility in what would be otherwise too bold a statement for him to make, nothing else.

 

5. ‘To be like’ meaning to say

This, we all saw happening in the last 50 years:

 

a. The first use from ‘similarly to’ (meaning #2, but used differently):

‘She said “let’s get drunk!” and I was like “” ‘ or “She said ‘I don't like him’ and I was like (shrugs)”

Basically you are showing how you behaved at that moment (smile, shrug etc.). You cannot use ‘say’ because you did not ‘say’ anything. So you use ‘be like’, meaning ‘At that moment I looked roughly like this:…’ and then make a face.

b. ‘She asked “Does anyone want some pudding” and John was like “uh-uh“ ’ .

Now this I would interpret as John not only saying those two syllable, but also shaking his head. So ‘be like’ still is being used to describe a behavior, but now there are sounds also included in it.

Give it a few more instances of this, and then someone takes it further and says “That girl asked me out to Prom and I was like “Sure!” ’. Now that is a ‘like’ followed by a real word.

 

c. One generation later, the young kids are thinking that you can use ‘be like’ to mean ‘say’ in most contexts.

‘I asked her if there was any homework for history class, and she was like “I dunno”, and I was like “You should know that!”.’

Edited March 20, 2018 by Tarte Gogo

[actor61]

Boy, have you pushed a button on this one! The use of the word "like" actually makes me angry and it has become so commonplace that it is no longer a fad or a tic. Some of the worst offenders are intelligent people in literate professions. Just listen to Terri Gross on "Fresh Air" or Ira Glass on "This American Life." The 2 best female comics working - Amy Shumer and Tiffany Hadish - use like so much that I can't listen to them for longer than 2 minutes without getting so annoyed that I turn off the t.v.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

It's, like, nearly as bad as the vocal fry epidemic

 

http://time.com/5006345/what-is-vocal-fry/

 

 

[+ Tarte Gogo]

Boy, have you pushed a button on this one! The use of the word "like" actually makes me angry and it has become so commonplace that it is no longer a fad or a tic. Some of the worst offenders are intelligent people in literate professions. Just listen to Terri Gross on "Fresh Air" or Ira Glass on "This American Life." The 2 best female comics working - Amy Shumer and Tiffany Hadish - use like so much that I can't listen to them for longer than 2 minutes without getting so annoyed that I turn off the t.v.

Yep, now all 5 usages are completely part of the English language.

[+ Tarte Gogo]

It's, like, nearly as bad as the vocal fry epidemic

 

http://time.com/5006345/what-is-vocal-fry/

 

 

Wow, I had never heard of that, I need to do some reading on it.

Thanks!

[+ azdr0710]

thanks @Benjamin_Nicholas for that link to the "vocal fry" explanation.....had witnessed it, of course, but didn't know its name and history.....and, by the way, I'm sad to see that even Time is using this now-popular quickie video news thing with the dopey music and short text bites that purport to fully explain the story (is there a name for this type news video??).....

 

I'd also like to know when "like" was first used in history in its current much-despised valley-girl form.....certainly well before Moon Unit Zappa in the early 80s, I know, which was already satirizing the word......

 

Edited March 20, 2018 by azdr0710

[+ Tarte Gogo]

thanks @Benjamin_Nicholas for that link to the "vocal fry" explanation.....had witnessed it, of course, but didn't know its name and history.....and, by the way, I'm sad to see that even Time is using this now-popular quickie video news thing with the dopey music and short text that purports to fully explain the story (is there a name for this type news video??).....

 

I'd also like to know when "like" was first used in history in its current much-despised valley-girl form.....certainly well before Moon Unit Zappa in the early 80s, I know......

 

Which of the 3 recent meaning do you mean?

 

‘Say’ seems to be from the sixties.

Baby boomers’ fault.

 

But the meaning ‘for example’ was used all the way back in the late 18th century.

 

The ‘signaling humility’ one, I don’t know, that sounds recent, but it may just be that frequency has increased recently.

Edited March 20, 2018 by Tarte Gogo

[+ azdr0710]

Which meaning do you mean?

 

your 5(a), 5(b), and 5© usages (the valley-girl meaning)....by the way, thanks for this post.....great summary of the evolution of the word......

 

I've always thought the usage of "like" in the valley-girl style was due to the speakers' uncertainty/ignorance, fear of getting something wrong, or not wanting to appear too forward or, even, smart ...thus a way to hedge their statement (somewhat close to your 4(a), 4(b), and 4© meanings, but in a more ignorant way)

Edited March 20, 2018 by azdr0710

[+ Tarte Gogo]

your 5(a), 5(b), and 5© usages (the valley-girl meaning)....by the way, thanks for this post.....great summary of the evolution of the word......

 

I've always thought the usage of "like" in the valley-girl style was due to the speakers' uncertainty/ignorance or fear of getting something wrong...thus a way to hedge their statement (somewhat close to your 4(a) and 4(b) meanings, but in a more ignorant way)

Hedging is exactly what is happening! I should have used that word, good point.

A more charitable interpretation is that they don’t want to be perceived as arrogant.

[Beancounter]

Boy, have you pushed a button on this one! The use of the word "like" actually makes me angry and it has become so commonplace that it is no longer a fad or a tic. Some of the worst offenders are intelligent people in literate professions. Just listen to Terri Gross on "Fresh Air" or Ira Glass on "This American Life." The 2 best female comics working - Amy Shumer and Tiffany Hadish - use like so much that I can't listen to them for longer than 2 minutes without getting so annoyed that I turn off the t.v.

I “liked” your post on principle but my first reaction was “like, whatever dude”.

[+ poolboy48220]

I had a friend who peppered his conversation with "y'know"s. I mentioned it to him once, he had no idea he was doing it, so he gave me permission to point it out to him when he did it, so he could stop. This pointing out took the form of a punch on the shoulder.

 

Another co-worker (and former boss, at a previous job) uses "You know what I mean?" in the same way, almost as punctuation. I remember Howard Stern interviewing someone years ago who did that, and every time the guy said that, Howard would reply "I know what you mean".

 

One of the dancers at Gold Coast starts out everything he ways with "I was just gonna say...".

 

Yeah, they ALL bug me.

[+ Tarte Gogo]

I had a friend who peppered his conversation with "y'know"s. I mentioned it to him once, he had no idea he was doing it, so he gave me permission to point it out to him when he did it, so he could stop. This pointing out took the form of a punch on the shoulder.

 

Another co-worker (and former boss, at a previous job) uses "You know what I mean?" in the same way, almost as punctuation. I remember Howard Stern interviewing someone years ago who did that, and every time the guy said that, Howard would reply "I know what you mean".

 

One of the dancers at Gold Coast starts out everything he ways with "I was just gonna say...".

 

Yeah, they ALL bug me.

I had a colleague who said ‘to be honest, ...” in front of every other sentence, even factual ones that no one would ever question. “To be honest this piece of code will cause a bug in the system”. “To be honest I prefer a light lunch” etc.

 

I kept wanting to tell him “So, 5 minutes ago, you weren’t being honest?”

Edited March 21, 2018 by Tarte Gogo

[RM]

And I thought "like" was a garbage word that had no meaning at all. You learn something every day.

[Jeremy]

Tarte Gogo -- another word like "like" is "stuff" which is used as a verb but also all to often as a noun.

[Jeremy]

Oops -- that should be "too" not "to".

[bigvalboy]

much-despised valley-girl form.....

 

 

My people...

[rvwnsd]

Tarte Gogo -- another word like "like" is "stuff" which is used as a verb but also all to often as a noun.

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, "stuff" as a noun entered the English language in the 1400s. Its meaning was extended to "matter of an unspecified kind" in circa 1570 and was recorded as meaning subject matter ("she really knows her stuff") in 1927. Ergo, "stuff" as a noun is nothing new or unusual.

 

**NOTE: I found one online comment regarding the use of stuff to mean "matter of an unspecified kind." It claims the OED mentions this is in regards to gases and particles, not "things." However, I don't have an OED subscription so I can't verify.

[+ Pensant]

I hadn’t heard of “vocal fry” either.

 

With reference to NPR, almost all the women engage in the annoying “uptalk”. It makes them sound like middle schoolers. Even Ari Shapiro does it sometimes.

[actor61]

I hadn’t heard of “vocal fry” either.

 

With reference to NPR, almost all the women engage in the annoying “uptalk”. It makes them sound like middle schoolers. Even Ari Shapiro does it sometimes.

So true!

[actor61]

Other vocal mannerisms or habits that make my skin itch are the use of the phrase "in terms of". We have a local weather forecaster who says, "We will have some precip today in terms of rain". I don't know why the hell she can't just say, "It's going to rain today." I heard a journalist on CNN today say, "I'm going to ask you this in terms of a question." Then there's making up nouns. I have heard "intentionality" and "speakerness" used. And of course - and people are going to argue with me on this one - the ubiquitous use of impact as a verb, as in "this will impact people greatly" or as an adverb as in "this was very impactful". I also despise the verb "incentivize". But all of these are in common usage now, so it's like howling in the wind to protest.

[actor61]

Tommy Davidson and "like". Enjoy.

 

[+ Tarte Gogo]

the ubiquitous use of impact as a verb, as in "this will impact people greatly"

In English, all nouns can become verbs, that has been happening for centuries. Where do you think “to worship” “to view” “to dream”, “to host” etc. comes from? There were people in the 14th century screaming, “no, ‘worship’ is only a noun! “

 

Don’t worry, some words stop being used as verbs, and stay as nouns only, so on average, you have the same number of them over time.

[LaffingBear]

I had a colleague who said ‘to be honest, ...” in front of every other sentence, even factual ones that no one would ever question. “To be honest this piece of code will cause a bug in the system”. “To be honest I prefer a light lunch” etc.

 

I kept wanting to tell him “So, 5 minutes ago, you weren’t being honest?”

I had a co-worker who responded to "to be honest" with, "aren't you always honest?"

Her reaction really heightened my awareness of it's use. I never say it.

 

To be honest has become a very common phrase to convey emphasis, or potentially impolite. I'll use frankly, or candidly, or to be clear.

[+ poolboy48220]

A co-worker has the "utilize" bug, always saying that when "use" will suffice. I know him well enough that I teased him about it, he said "I know", and now he enjoys how much it bothers me :-)

[+ poolboy48220]

I had a co-worker who responded to "to be honest" with, "aren't you always honest?"

Her reaction really heightened my awareness of it's use. I never say it.

 

To be honest has become a very common phrase to convey emphasis, or potentially impolite. I'll use frankly, or candidly, or to be clear.

"I'm not gonna lie" is another similar turn of phrase.