
The Linguistic Evolution of ‘Like’ - pmcpinto
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/11/the-evolution-of-like/507614/?single_page=true
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triangleman
The author forgot the other common usage of _like_ , that is, in storytelling:
"I was like, what are you doing here?" The word prepares you for not only what
was said, but what was felt and done and whatever else needs to be
communicated. Unfortunately this usage of _like_ is so useful that it is
certainly over-used now, and we need to go back to using the proper verbs. But
that is easier said than, uh, said!

~~~
dionidium
This style of storytelling isn't nearly as useful as you imply. "I asked him
what he was doing here," works just as well -- better! -- and saves us all the
amateur reenactment.

Edit: I suspect there's something deeper going on here, which is that many of
us have _forgotten_ how to tell a story. Instead, we're just relaying what we
remember of our own thoughts at the time. Instead of telling others what
happened, we're reliving our own perspective of the experience in real time.

Related, I think, is this weird new way of writing in which people tell us
that they "decided" to do something before relaying each thing that happened.
For example:

"We decided to go to the beach for the day. After a while, we decided to grab
some food. After lunch, we were all tired and decided to go home."

Just tell us that you went to the beach, ate some lunch, and then left. I
understand _implicitly_ that you had to _decide_ to do each thing before you
did it.

~~~
SamBam
"I asked him what he was doing here" is not the same. It is not necessarily
better story-telling, as I think your edit implies.

How many kids books -- or novels of any kind -- have only passive descriptions
of what people said, as opposed to actually quoting the characters' words?
Quoting is certainly a form of storytelling, and can often convey emotion more
succinctly than needing to spell it out.

"He was like ' _okaaay..._ '" vs "He said it was ok, but in a sarcastic manner
that implied he was not happy with it."

But, distinct from an actual quote, ("And I said to him, 'What are you doing
here!'", per the other poster), the quotative-like allows narrator freedom in
a way that a direct quotation doesn't. The listener doesn't expect the words
to be a literal quote, rather, the _sense_ of what was said is enough,
allowing the narrator to simplify, or to exaggerate for emphasis or comedic
effect.

~~~
dionidium
_How many kids books -- or novels of any kind -- have only passive
descriptions of what people said_

I should clarify that in the first case I was talking about oral storytelling.
My second complaint more generally applies to the written word.

This is entirely subjective, of course, but my choice of the word
_reenactment_ was deliberate. Often, I'm not told what happened; I'm given a
tedious play-by-play of both sides of the interaction.

    
    
        so I was like do you wanna see a movie
        and he was like I guess
        and I was like, what do you mean you guess
        and he's just like, I dunno, I guess
        and I'm like just tell me if you want to or not
        and he's all like get off my back
        and I'm all like I'm not on your back
    

10 minutes later what I've learned is that you had a fight about indecision;
but I also got to see a horribly-acted one-man play!

That's what I'm complaining about, not, more generally, the use of quoting as
a literary device.

~~~
fooza
You excluded the main object of the conversation. Even in your contrived
example the main point he is trying to convey is his disdain with the other
person, how they felt when this altercation happened. your summary doesn't
have any of that.

------
thesagan
Related to this: I've also noticed that the word "so" is used a lot to
terminate a sentence, maybe as a hesitation to stop speaking, or to
(intentionally?) leave the final "point" somewhat ambiguous.

E.g.: "You bet! He did this, then that, and so... yeah!" (sometimes another
word like "yeah" follows "so")

I'm guilty of it. ;)

~~~
stupidcar
Slate's language podcast Lexicon Valley did a whole episode on the trailing
"so":
[http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/lexicon_valley/2012/0...](http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/lexicon_valley/2012/04/lexicon_valley_beginning_and_ending_all_of_our_thoughts_with_so_.html)

They also covered what is, to me, an even weirder linguistic phenomenon, the
common and growing use of "yeah, no" at the beginning of a response to
somebody:
[http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/lexicon_valley/2013/0...](http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/lexicon_valley/2013/06/yeah_no_lexicon_valley_slate_podcast.html)

I use this "yeah, no" construction myself quite a lot. I have a strong
_instinctive_ understanding of how to use it, and what it means. But I don't
think I could consciously provide a decent explanation of why I'm saying both
yes and no about something.

~~~
spoonie
IME when we reply 'Yeah, no...', the first part isn't an affirmation, it's an
acknowledgement that you have heard and understood the question.

Think of it as an informal but intimate way of speaking. If you just answered
"No." it could come off a little bit cold or professional. By taking the time
to use a few extra words you are showing more warmth to the asker.

~~~
marcus_holmes
this feels right to me.

"yes I have heard you, but I disagree with your point"

Something like: "did you try it this way?" "yeah, no that didn't work"

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iamed2
"Ordinary people, too, have long been using like as an appendage to indicate
similarity with a trace of hesitation. The “slow-like” kind of usage is a
continuation of this, and Saul Bellow has thoroughly un- Beatnik characters in
his novels of the 1950s use like in a way we would expect a decade or two
later. “That’s the right clue and may do me some good. Something very big.
Truth, like,” says Tommy Wilhelm in 1956’s Seize the Day,"

My grandfather uses "like" often, but only in this way (he grew up in
Depression-era semi-rural Canada). I've always found that interesting since I
rarely see that usage mentioned.

Anyone else have older relatives who use "like" this way?

~~~
Declanomous
I've spent a lot of time in rural Wisconsin and Minnesota, and that particular
usage of the word like is still common, even among younger individuals. My
roommate in college was from a really small town in Minnesota, and he'd
describe things as "All [adjective]-like". He used like in the other manners
as well though.

~~~
ende
You see this usage commonly around parts of England, particularly among some
of the northwestern dialects like Scouse.

~~~
Declanomous
Interesting. My roommate is from somewhere in northern England; I'll have to
pay attention for this in the future. His parents speak with received
pronunciation though, so I suspect he has fewer colloquialisms in his speech
than the general population of wherever he's from. He contends that his accent
and figures of speech wouldn't be recognized as English at this point, but
every American I know pegs him as British almost instantly, so who knows.

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zbeat
Funny: I assumed (due to HN relevance?) the article was about the evolution of
the Like button () on social networks. Guess it's time to step out of the
filter bubble this morning!

~~~
SubiculumCode
I clicked thinking the same but was pleasantly surprised to find, like, a
really good article.

I tried to stop myself.

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jonahrd
Loved this article! It reminds me of my middle school English teacher, who
enforced a 'no-like zone' (in good humor). Every time anyone noticed the usage
of like other than the old 'proper' usage, you'd get another tally added to
your name.

I think it was a great idea, not because I'm worried about the new usage of
the word like, but because it forced all of us to think carefully about our
word choice when speaking in that class.

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sndean
I've actually been called out multiple times for starting sentences with "I
don't know..." It took a while, but I've realized it's one way for me to allow
my mouth catch up with my brain.

Like a buffer period for me to make sure I'm saying what I'm thinking.
Otherwise my words become oddly jumbled and nonsensical. Maybe it might be
better if that buffer period was just silence.

~~~
asdfasdfa11112
Except that also serves as a placeholder for your turn to speak. I frequently
find myself taking an extra second to think before I speak only to have my
turn pass me by, because someone else started up right away.

~~~
sndean
This happens to me all the time. Possibly every day. And normally the
conversation just keeps moving.

Maybe it's an introvert thing.

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pc2g4d
I respect the descriptive impulse to see the function of 'like' rather than
just mocking it. However, I'm not entirely convinced of the two senses of
'like' that the author sees. I imagine similarly nebulous arguments could be
made for many other sense of like, which is why the analysis of 'like' as a
hedge word or hesitation still might be the best.

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SubiculumCode
I feel that like is often used as a verbal em dash, for emphasis and
interruption.Once I understoid their intended usages I love the — em dash – en
dash and \- hyphen

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Odenwaelder
Like, uh, finds a way.

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rajeshp1986
I was once sitting in a cafe & overheard the conversation of a group of people
sitting on the next table. There was a girl who was super excited to share how
her weekend was to her friend. She used "like" at least 1829 time in 2
minutes. It was a machine gun spitting "like" bullets. Thereafter I started
hating the "like" word. whenever someone uses "like" more often than it should
be then I feel "like" he is trying to kill me with "like" bullets.

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pklausler
It's very much akin to the SV habit of starting a sentence with "So, ...".
It's a helpful key that you don't really have to pay much attention to what
follows.

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jv22222
Interesting that it doesn't really mention the social media use of the word
"Like" aka the Facebook Like button.

That was what I was expecting the article to be about. But it was overall a
good read.

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tempestn
Even more relevant than usual:
[https://xkcd.com/1483/](https://xkcd.com/1483/)

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corv
The modern usage of "like" is utterly disgusting.

