# "He was like" usage - when, and where, did it originate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2011, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-was-like-usage-when-and-where-did-it-originate/606397 "2011-12-16T09:05:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-was-like-usage-when-and-where-did-it-originate/606397/21 "2011-12-16T19:40:27Z")
Eh? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-was-like-usage-when-and-where-did-it-originate/606397/22 "2011-12-16T21:33:14Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Eh? Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-was-like-usage-when-and-where-did-it-originate/606397/23 "2011-12-16T22:35:48Z")
> [@Dufus](#): > > I think it started in like the hippie days, man. Like when sounds had color and everything was like groovy, you know? Yep you’re spot on. I grew up as a “Hairy”, which had the same culture as Hippies except for the “peace” bit, and it was an affectation of the seriously Hip .“Like , how ya doing man ?” “Like I’m going to the Bath festival baby” It always amuses me when the kids think that they’re being so original and groundbreaking, when in fact all they’re doing is recycling old fashions. They are so seriously uncool. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-was-like-usage-when-and-where-did-it-originate/606397/24 "2011-12-16T22:46:39Z")
Like, a sampling of discussions of the, like, “quotative” like: > **[Opinion | Language: Learning to like like (Published 2007)](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/opinion/15iht-edoconnor.1.6661788.html)** > **[…and I was like “dude, that’s the quotative use of ‘be like’.”](https://collecting-tokens.com/2007/02/05/and-i-was-like-dude-thats-the-quotative-use-of-be-like/)** > > As I mentioned recently, I’m taking a class. While it’s been a bit of a trip getting back into the swing of attending classes, I’m actually enjoying the class. It’s a sociol… [http://www.jstor.org/pss/455910](http://www.jstor.org/pss/455910) (excerpt only) [http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/bv230/lang-var/like%20in%20glasgow.pdf](http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/bv230/lang-var/like%20in%20glasgow.pdf) (pdf. Academic paper discussion the international spread of this usage, specifically to Glasgow.) ---
**Author:** ![Dufus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c77e96/32.png) [@Dufus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dufus)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-was-like-usage-when-and-where-did-it-originate/606397/25 "2011-12-16T23:02:01Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Good point, but I can attest to it being a Beatnik thing from maybe a decade earlier. If I had to point to a year, I would say 1950, give or take two. > > My own usage of it didn’t start until the early 60’s and it seemed a cool thing at that time. Far Out, Man! The OP might enjoy this hip website: [Like…Dreamsville](http://likedreamsville.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html) ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-was-like-usage-when-and-where-did-it-originate/606397/26 "2011-12-17T00:21:52Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Like, a sampling of discussions of the, like, “quotative” like: Thanks. I haven’t had a chance to read these yet, but my impression is that while it’s clearly a way to report speech–similar to quotation marks–it also seems to be used _ **to impart stronger affect or emotion to the quotation** _. (You’ll often see it used in combination with “Oh my God!”) Here are some expamples from recent TV (just to show that it isn’t just “Valley Girls” who use it): [QUOTE=Host on NBC’s Today show, Feb 28, 2011 (talking about clothes worn in the Oscars)] GUILANA RANCIC: Yeah, my husband couldn’t even bear to look at the dress. HAL RUBENSTEIN: I called my partner, **he was like,** What the heck is that? I love – I’m sorry – I agree with Giuliana, I think the dress is amazing. [/quote] [QUOTE=Chuck Nice, host on NBC Today, commenting on Obama’s 2010 State of the Union address] KATHIE LEE GIFFORD: He didn’t say that last night. CHUCK NICE:… that would’ve been kind of disingenuous if he did, but he finally got to it. **He was like,** The state of the union is strong because we know how to make a comeback. Like that was his – that was pretty much his message. GIFFORD: Uh-huh. [/quote] [QUOTE=Politcal Analyst Donna Brazile, on ABC This Week Roundtable, July 13, 2008] GEORGE STEPHANOPOUS: He did seem to get a little bit uncomfortable there. DONNA BRAZILE (off-camera): I noticed he was looking away. **He was like,** oh my god, what else will they say? I mean you can not script children that’s the problem. COKIE ROBERTS: (Off-camera) Which is great. [/quote] [QUOTE=NASA astronaut Colleen Shipman (from the “astronaut love-triangle story”) On ABC 20-20 show, Feb. 16, 2011] He didn’t mention any names or anything and he said, I had this talk with her and we’re gonna remain friends, but there’s no romance there or anything. **And I said,** hey, is there gonna be some crazy lady showing up on my door, you know, trying to kill me? **And he was like,** no, you know, you don’t have to worry about that. **And I was like,** okay. Okay. [/quote] It’s often used to frame dialog. Here’s an example “conversation” relating both sides with the usage. These would seem like direct quotations: [QUOTE=From CBS 48 Hours, Feb 26 2011 – Woman whose family “caught” a serial killer] NICOLE POGASIC: I got woke up about six forty-five on the thirteenth from a phone call from my brother. I answered it. **And he was like,** Nicole, Mom’s dead. **I’m like what?** You’re kidding me. Tell me you’re lying. **He’s like,** no, she was murdered last night. And then I just felt my whole life just completely fall apart. [/quote] Notice that _ **she shifts to historical present** _ in the last instance, which has been shown to be another way that English speakers \*\*\*underscore the emotion behind narratives \*\*\*they recount. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-was-like-usage-when-and-where-did-it-originate/606397/27 "2011-12-17T00:33:41Z")
In the mid to late '60s I visited my cousins in the Chicago area, and they used dialog tags such as “He goes” “He was like” and “He’s all” He goes, “What do you want?” And I was all “Just a coke, man.” And then he’s “I don’t sell that, get out,” so I’m like “Okay, whatever.” I hadn’t heard that before, or anyway hadn’t realized it, but when I got back home (California, at the time) I picked up on it. One of my cousins still talks like that. Obviously, if she was 13 in 1966, she’s a lot older now, but she’s saying things like, “Mom’s losing her shit, she’s all 'Hey, my mind’s as good as ever” one minute and the next she’s like “I don’t know why your father [who died years ago] can’t put things where they belong.’” It gets BORING using “said” all the time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-was-like-usage-when-and-where-did-it-originate/606397.md?page=1)