# Do non-English-speakers say "like"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 2, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920 "2011-02-02T18:30:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/1 "2011-02-02T18:30:58Z")
I was listening to grade school/high school/college students talk, and every other word is “like,” and I wonder if there is an equivalent in other languages or cultures… ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/2 "2011-02-02T18:45:40Z")
Israelis definitely use k’ilu (‘it’s like’, or ‘it is as if’) the same way Americans use ‘like.’ ---
**Author:** ![\_Undecided\_Adrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/eada6e/32.png) [@\_Undecided\_Adrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Undecided_Adrian)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/3 "2011-02-02T18:49:59Z")
Chinese people say [nega](http://www.chacha.com/question/what-is-the-chinese-word-that-sounds-like-%22nega%22.-what-does-it-mean) quite a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/4 "2011-02-02T19:45:03Z")
I don’t know much about the Hawaiian language, but it seems like a lot of Hawaiians use “da kine” about the way American teenagers use “like.” (That’s assuming you’re talking about when the use “like” as a filler word with no meaning, as opposed to using it as a real comparator) ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/5 "2011-02-02T19:52:46Z")
I can confirm the Chinese “nega.” It’s used almost like “like.” ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/6 "2011-02-02T19:56:42Z")
Previous thread: > **[Do other languages have the equivalent of abusing "like" in every sentence?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=517494)** > > Listening to some people in line in front of me today, and for the umpteenth time getting distracted by the overuse of like, I wondered if other languages have this type of language virus? Example for the few who don’t know what I mean: “I was,... ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/7 "2011-02-02T20:00:13Z")
I’ve heard people speaking in Hindi use _matlab_ and people speaking in Bengali use _mane_ as filler words similar to “like.” The mean something like “I mean.” ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/8 "2011-02-02T20:07:12Z")
In Czech, “prostě” (“simply”), “jako” (“like”), and “tak” or “takže” (“so”) are all used as a filler word the way “like” is in American English. The particularly adept can fit “prostě” in four or five times in one sentence. “Ty vole” or “vole” (“you ox” or “ox”) is also used, but that’s probably more the way we use “man” - as an informal form of address, an exclamation, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/9 "2011-02-02T20:44:28Z")
Not particular to young people, but in Dutch - as in English - plenty of [filler words](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filler_%28linguistics%29), are used. For example: _dus_ “so” _of zo_ “or something” _weet je (wel)_ “(do) you know” - Wikipedia notes that Dutch English speakers use “you know” an awful lot. That’s excluding the extremely common non-words such as ehm and uh (basically, errm or uh). ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/10 "2011-02-02T20:49:22Z")
In French, many people pepper their speech with “genre” which is more or less the same as the Valley-speak “like”. Also : “tu vois” (“you know/you see”), “je veux dire” (“I mean”) and ending their sentences with “quoi” (“what.”) J’veux dire, c’est genre difficile de s’en empêcher à l’oral, quoi. Genre on s’en rend même plus compte, tu vois ? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/11 "2011-02-02T20:53:07Z")
Japanese have a zillion examples, both slang and not slang. A lot of it, like all Japanese, is dependent on the relationship between the speaker and the listener. Also, a lot more of it is “female language” which is something to watch out for if you are a guy and your teacher was your Japanese girlfriend or other female. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/12 "2011-02-02T20:59:54Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > In French, many people pepper their speech with “genre” which is more or less the same as the Valley-speak “like”. Also : “tu vois” (“you know/you see”), “je veux dire” (“I mean”) and ending their sentences with “quoi” (“what.”) > > J’veux dire, c’est genre difficile de s’en empêcher à l’oral, quoi. Genre on s’en rend même plus compte, tu vois ? 😛 It’s probably a Québec thing, and maybe even limited to Montreal, but lately I’ve heard people speaking French and using the English word “like” as a filler word. C’est _like_, bizarre à entendre! ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/13 "2011-02-02T22:00:43Z")
In Spanish a lot of people seem to use “este” as a filler word (often drawing out the second syllable until they’re ready to say something)… its literal meaning is closer to “this” than “like” though. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/14 "2011-02-02T22:02:24Z")
I think I heard Grant Barrett on _A Way With Words_ say that there was a recent study that suggested that filler words actually are beneficial in that listeners tend to retain information much more when the speaker is using filler words. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/15 "2011-02-02T22:08:05Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > I’ve heard people speaking in Hindi use _matlab_ They must be _great_ at linear algebra. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/16 "2011-02-02T22:08:30Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > I think I heard Grant Barrett on _A Way With Words_ say that there was a recent study that suggested that filler words actually are beneficial in that listeners tend to retain information much more when the speaker is using filler words. Really? The only thing I retain when I hear someone saying “like” constantly is a passionate desire to wallop them over the head with a frying pan. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/17 "2011-02-02T22:11:40Z")
Arabs and other middle eastern and south asian languages use “yani” ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/18 "2011-02-02T22:33:20Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:4, topic:569920”] I don’t know much about the Hawaiian language, but it seems like a lot of Hawaiians use “da kine” about the way American teenagers use “like.” (That’s assuming you’re talking about when the use “like” as a filler word with no meaning, as opposed to using it as a real comparator) [/QUOTE] “Da kine” is not a filler, it’s a placeholder for a noun or verb. “Put da pencil in da da kine.” = Put the pencil in the cup. Usually accompanied by pointing or nodding at the cup in question. If it were used like “like”, “She, like, was soooo, like, upset!” would be “She, da kine, was sooooo, da kine, upset!” and that’s pretty awkward. Pidgin speakers are far more likely to use “like” in that usage than “da kine.” If anything, “da kine” would be substitued for “upset”: “He told her he was cheating on her and she got so da kine!” ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/19 "2011-02-02T22:55:32Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > “Ty vole” or “vole” (“you ox” or “ox”) is also used, but that’s probably more the way we use “man” - as an informal form of address, an exclamation, etc. 😃 Something of a tangent from the OP, but: **pravnik’s** post reminds me a lot of the way some American subcultures use words like “hoss” or “dog” to refer to listeners belonging (approximately) to the same social stratum. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/20 "2011-02-02T22:57:44Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > In French, many people pepper their speech with “genre” which is more or less the same as the Valley-speak “like”. Also : “tu vois” (“you know/you see”), “je veux dire” (“I mean”) and ending their sentences with “quoi” (“what.”) > > J’veux dire, c’est genre difficile de s’en empêcher à l’oral, quoi. Genre on s’en rend même plus compte, tu vois ? 😛 **Kobal** (or any French speaker) … in this usage, does the final _-re_ in _genre_ tend to get weakened, or even unpronounced? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920.md?page=2)