# I'm, like, stop it! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 19, 2002, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-stop-it/119853 "2002-07-19T18:35:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-stop-it/119853/21 "2002-07-20T11:42:12Z")
Marcie clings to “you know” and can manage to use it five times in what would otherwise be a three word sentence. Drives me absolutely insane but I can’t bring myself to ask her to stop. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-stop-it/119853/22 "2002-07-20T12:55:49Z")
This girl? She speaks in fragments? And every sentence? Rises to an interrogative? ---
**Author:** ![Forbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Forbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forbin)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-stop-it/119853/23 "2002-07-20T14:34:41Z")
\ (His was the _most_ correct answer from a classroom of idiots.) ---
**Author:** ![pincushion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d9b06d/32.png) [@pincushion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pincushion)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-stop-it/119853/24 "2002-07-20T19:40:23Z")
I remember a history teacher I had back in the 8th grade who liked to make fun of people who said “like”. For instance, he would ask someone a question about something, and when they start the response with “Well, it’s, like, blah blah blah” the teacher would interrupt with “I don’t want to know what it’s _like_, I want to know what it _is_.” ---
**Author:** ![Azure\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f05b48/32.png) [@Azure\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azure_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-stop-it/119853/25 "2002-07-20T22:32:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by peasea \* > \*\* I’m sure some future study will reveal a genetic divergence among Americans is responsible for this. \*\* Actually, my mom (who is Finnish) grew up saying the Finnish word for ‘like’ in the same way - as filler. It like, transcends the English language! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-stop-it/119853/26 "2002-07-20T23:07:00Z")
(Inspired by **Podkayne** ’s post - credit where credit due) I see a gap in the market for a new Bible translation here: > [@](#): > > So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate was like, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” > For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. > While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife was like, “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” > But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. > The governer was like, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” > They were like, “Barabbas,” > Pilate was like, “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” > They were all like, “Crucify him!” > Pilate was like, “Why? What crime has he committed?” > But they were all still like, “Crucify him!”, really loud now. > When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd and was like, “I am innocent of this man’s blood, It is your responsibility!” > All the people were like, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” > Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2002, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-stop-it/119853/27 "2002-07-21T00:45:35Z")
I’ve noticed, and had it pointed out to me as well, that I often tend to toss an incredible number of likes into my speech. Enough to make the most stereotypical valley girl think I’m a bit of a freak. I can concentrate and speak slowly and avoid using the word, but if I just speak normally, it tends to sneak in between all the other words. I’m considering behavior-modification electrodes. It really sucks, because I can otherwise (and with the exception of various other linguistic crutches, but to a much lesser degree) manage to sound like a reasonably intelligent person. ---
**Author:** ![Peta\_Tzunami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b487fb/32.png) [@Peta\_Tzunami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peta_Tzunami)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2002, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-stop-it/119853/28 "2002-07-21T01:37:10Z")
I have a tendency to correct or joke with people who use the word incorrectly, but only if I know them well enough to know they’ll accept it in the lighthearted manner in which it is intended. For example, a co-worker friend of mine will say things like “So I bought, like, a jacket.” So I’ll say with a grin, “Was it a jacket or like a jacket?” I was broken of a lot of poor language habits growing up (though I sometimes lapse). I remember being corrected endlessly for saying “on accident” as a child. “I did it on accident,” I’d say to which my mom would reply, “You did it BY accident.” When I was a dj at my college radio station, I worked hard to stop using “uh” and “um” as filler while my mind worked on what to say next. (It sounds awful to “um” on radio.) It takes practice and concentration to get out of the habit and find other ways to bide your time without leaving dead air. ---
**Author:** ![Sivalensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Sivalensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sivalensis)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2002, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-stop-it/119853/29 "2002-07-21T02:17:12Z")
ok now, i’m 23. i say like a fair amount. i was going to post saying that i don’t really say it that much because i didn’t think i did, and i asked one of my coworkers whether i say it a lot, and managed to say it twice in one sentence. when i was consciously thinking about it. i don’t think it’s the word that drives me crazy though, it’s the tone some people use with it. it started with the valley girls, who had this particularly airheaded, vacuous way of saying like when it wasn’t needed. i am educated, i have a bachelors, and i work in an intellectual environment. i use correct grammar, and for the most part i don’t say stupid things (though i have my moments). just because someone says “like”, that doesn’t mean they’re devoid of intelligence or learning (like someone said with george washington). it gets annoying when they add it where it isn’t “like” needed, rather than just using it as filler or in the place of the word “said”. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2002, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-stop-it/119853/30 "2002-07-21T05:15:55Z")
I’ve read that ‘like’ used in this way actually has a recognizable grammatical role. It serves as a marker that indicates the time or location of the events, of which the following words provide a snaphot. According to this theory, ‘like’ is often used when describing conversations; it may precede a quoted conversation, but it directs the listener to look at the totality of the quoted words, plus style and manner of speaking, body language, and other context. I have an image of a speaker almost acting out an interpretation of the described speech. Apparently this reflects a change of thinking to a much more ‘immediate’, visual style of describing things. I don’t know whether this is true, or even makes sense, and I _really_ wish I had a cite for it, but… It’s, like, a way interesting and intriguing idea. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2002, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-stop-it/119853/31 "2002-07-21T05:58:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Peta Tzunami \* > \*\*When I was a dj at my college radio station, I worked hard to stop using “uh” and “um” as filler while my mind worked on what to say next. (It sounds awful to “um” on radio.) It takes practice and concentration to get out of the habit and find other ways to bide your time without leaving dead air. \*\* One of the stations in the Quad Cities used to have a contest with very simple rules. A person called in, and all they had to do to win the prize (I don’t recall what they gave away) and talk about any subject for something like thirty seconds without once using an ‘uh’, ‘umm’, or ‘like’. Some people could go from valley girl to perfect english with no problem, and other people just couldn’t avoid the umms. I wish they still did it, it was quite entertaining and interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2002, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-stop-it/119853/32 "2002-07-21T06:37:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sunspace \* > \*\*I’ve read that ‘like’ used in this way actually has a recognizable grammatical role. > > It serves as a marker that indicates the time or location of the events, of which the following words provide a snaphot. > > According to this theory, ‘like’ is often used when describing conversations; it may precede a quoted conversation, but it directs the listener to look at the totality of the quoted words, plus style and manner of speaking, body language, and other context. I have an image of a speaker almost acting out an interpretation of the described speech. > > Apparently this reflects a change of thinking to a much more ‘immediate’, visual style of describing things. > > I don’t know whether this is true, or even makes sense, and I _really_ wish I had a cite for it, but… > > It’s, like, a way interesting and intriguing idea. 🙂 \*\* wow sun, i was going to post that I use “like” in the exact same way myself: when i am quoting someone and am meaning to paraphrase and/or express the way in which it was said as much as the actual content. I also use “like” as an interjection when I am comparing things “this sun box is like 5 times faster than the old one.” It’s sort of a combination of an interjection and comparative. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-stop-it/119853.md?page=1)