# "I'm, like, ..." -- was it Valley Girls that started that? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 31, 2026, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055 "2026-07-31T16:48:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/21 "2026-08-02T08:32:46Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > the substitution of “I’m like . . .” for “I said . . .” I’ve often wondered what you say if you don’t hear what they said .. Is it “I’m sorry, what did you say ?” or “I’m sorry, what are you like ?” ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/22 "2026-08-02T09:28:21Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > I’ve often wondered what you say if you don’t hear what they said .. > Is it “I’m sorry, what did you say ?” or “I’m sorry, what are you like ?”   An excellent point! 😁 It underscores the fact that while the evolution of language is often systematic and logical, its **devolution** at the hands of valley girls and their ilk usually is not. Pity the poor foreigner for whom English is a second language trying to understand it. That he cannot is the whole point – teen-speak and other aberrations are a form of in-group identity markers, basically just cultural classism. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/23 "2026-08-02T09:52:51Z")
Cartoons, eh? This one is from 1962: [https://dn801205.us.archive.org/0/items/banty-raids-1963-restored/S27E001\_El%20gallo%20mañoso.mp4](https://dn801205.us.archive.org/0/items/banty-raids-1963-restored/S27E001_El%20gallo%20ma%C3%B1oso.mp4) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/24 "2026-08-02T10:16:50Z")
Nice find! The “beatnik” era is generally associated with the late 50s to the early 60s, so it’s at least that old! 😁 [![](https://i.imgur.com/cB2pcAc.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/cB2pcAc.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/25 "2026-08-02T10:20:31Z")
And here in the UK, people use “go” instead of “say” (as well as “like” ) - I don’t know if it’s the same in the USA or Canada.. ? eg… "He goes ‘you ok ?’ and she goes ‘yeah, whatever’ " I’m sorry, where did she go ? 🤷 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/26 "2026-08-02T11:10:00Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > It underscores the fact that while the evolution of language is often systematic and logical, its **devolution** at the hands of valley girls and their ilk usually is not. Pity the poor foreigner for whom English is a second language trying to understand it. That he cannot is the whole point – teen-speak and other aberrations are a form of in-group identity markers, basically just cultural classism. No cap, Not to throw shade but a foreigner would be delulu thinking he wouldn’t be totally cooked trying to learn our language. He’d sound cringe. 6-7! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/27 "2026-08-02T11:57:58Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Pity the poor foreigner for whom English is a second language trying to understand it. I don’t speak any non-English language well enough to know for sure, but decent bet that young people the world over have in-group slang and all the rest. > [@pjd](#): > > And here in the UK, people use “go” instead of “say” (as well as “like” ) - I don’t > know if it’s the same in the USA or Canada.. ? > eg… > "He goes ‘you ok ?’ and she goes ‘yeah, whatever’ " “go” is used for “say” in US English as well. Very informal register and tends to be a young person usage they grow out of. Same with “like”. And I like your point about asking for clarification of something not heard. Nobody would say “How did he go?” or “How did she like?” Not to relitigate a \*very\* tired topic w @wolfpup about language evolution vs his claimed devolution, but ... I noticed something as I was replying to @pjd here. Young people were using “go” and “like” to substitute for “say” when I was a kid 60 years ago. I sure did. I don’t now, and neither does anyone near my age I know. OTOH, today’s young folks sure do. My contention here and now is that there is something we might usefully call a “youthful register”. And it’s as distinct as high or low register or literary or technical register. Youthful register has long term multi-decade staying power even though any individual person only stays in the youthful age range for, say, a decade-ish. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/28 "2026-08-02T18:23:24Z")
“He asked me if I was interested.” “And I’m like 'yes!” ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/29 "2026-08-02T20:10:43Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > No cap, Not to throw shade but a foreigner would be delulu thinking he wouldn’t be totally cooked trying to learn our language. He’d sound cringe. 6-7! Adolescent vernacular loses its coolness as soon as an adult uses it. At that point, a new word must be immediately introduced. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/30 "2026-08-02T20:28:28Z")
The interjection of the word “like” varies from person to person. The frequency can literally be every third word and is really annoying when that happens. To me, it shows a lack of self awareness and a poor foundation in the language. And it’s not just teens. I hear adults using it all the time as a crutch. Another trend that’s been around awhile is the shortening of words, like “suss” for suspicious, “rando” for random, etc., which doesn’t really bother me. The language is fluid. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/31 "2026-08-02T20:39:09Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Not to relitigate a \*very\* tired topic w @wolfpup about language evolution vs his claimed devolution, but … There’s a book by the linguist John McWhorter called _Words on the Move: Why English Won’t – and Can’t – Sit Still (Like, Literally)_ that I read some years ago. It’s an interesting read, and I don’t mean “interesting” to be wholly complimentary. There’s lots of academically sound information, but some of his reasoning about how and why people drift into non-standard language usage stretches rationalization to the breaking point. One might note that McWhorter writes a lot of books, and I always suspect people like that of courting controversy in order to stay relevant. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > My contention here and now is that there is something we might usefully call a “youthful register”. And it’s as distinct as high or low register or literary or technical register. Probably quite true, but how does one define “youth”? Because as I mentioned before, I was listening to a radio interview with a graduate student awhile ago about some science subject, and while she was obviously bright and knowledgeable, she could barely utter a single sentence without peppering it with “like”. Honestly, it was like a speech impediment, but one that originated as a learned-language issue rather than an unfortunate physiological one. I think it might actually be, like, an impediment to her career. Would you, like, hire a valley girl to be your next professor of physics and researcher on quantum cryptography? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/32 "2026-08-02T20:52:39Z")
The other day I heard a linguist saying that “She was like…” and “She was all…” are a new kind of quotation. Standard quotations tell you what somebody said. To be “like” and to be “all” refer to what someone is thinking or feeling. My take: it’s the language of vibes. Once the concept of vibes was introduced via a Beach Boys song in 1966, it quickly became part of the Zeitgeist, leading to new quotational forms to speak of it. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/33 "2026-08-02T21:18:53Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > The other day I heard a linguist saying that “She was like…” and “She was all…” are a new kind of quotation. Standard quotations tell you what somebody said. To be “like” and to be “all” refer to what someone is thinking or feeling. > > My take: it’s the language of vibes. I can accept that. I’m normally suspicious of retroactive rationalizations for non-standard language usage, but that actually makes sense. But it doesn’t account for the pervasive use of “like” in other contexts, where it seems to be more of a verbal tic with no actual function. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/34 "2026-08-02T21:59:37Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > It definitely predates the Valley Girls since I remember it in use long before that. Yeah, I remember it being in common usage in grade school, which was in Michigan in the 70s. And I would argue that it did have a clear semantic purpose or meaning to it. If you said “she was all, like, I hate that”, you meant she wasn’t actually saying verbatim that she hated that thing, but that her attitude clearly expressed that she hated it. > [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > I don’t know if anyone still says “gag me” or “I’m _so_ sure” A lot of the phrases that came out of the Frank Zappa song ‘Valley Girl’, like “gag me with a spoon” or “bag your face” were inventions of Moon Zappa to amuse her father. So anybody saying stuff like “gag me” IRL was probably a case of life imitating art. > **[Moon Zappa's complicated relationship with 'Valley Girl,' 40 years later: 'I...](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/moon-zappas-complicated-relationship-with-valley-girl-40-years-later-i-just-was-trying-to-make-my-dad-laugh-203637351.html)** > > "Having it then appear on an album was a kind of exposure and embarrassment and betrayal for me. I wasn't thinking about, 'We're making a product.’ I was thinking, 'I'm spending time with my father.'" ---
**Author:** ![Xocomil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xocomil/32/14927_2.png) [@Xocomil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xocomil)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/35 "2026-08-02T23:39:55Z")
I think both constructions are certain to be followed by a quote or paraphrase. However, the quote will be expressed in such a way as to characterize and evaluate the quote. Maybe something like, “She was all, ‘No, you can’t do that,’” will be said with exaggerated mock anger to illustrate the emotion of the quoted speaker and simultaneously express the quoter’s contempt for the quotee. It’s almost certainly something that humans have been doing as long as we’ve had our present-day language ability. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/36 "2026-08-02T23:56:32Z")
I’m a 50 year old guy and I use “like” all the time, though not as constantly as Valley Girl speak. It’s extremely common in my experience, but maybe I just hang around ingrates. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2026, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/37 "2026-08-03T00:49:53Z")
I find myself using this like a lot once I let myself go more casual. It seemed to come along when I started using lowercase and shorter sentences so I didn’t stick out as the oldest person in a Discord server. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/38 "2026-08-03T00:50:09Z")
You’re just so likeable. Unlike me 😉 🤪 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/39 "2026-08-03T02:47:49Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > But it doesn’t account for the pervasive use of “like” in other contexts, where it seems to be more of a verbal tic with no actual function. True, that’s another thing. A replacement for hemming and hawing. Which means when you go “umm…” and “uh…” Nobody sounds good when doing that. A speaker may seize upon anything to avoid the dreaded hem and haw. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055/40 "2026-08-03T03:28:18Z")
[Maynard G. Krebs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BrAg0ouxXk) was saying things like “I’m, like…” on _Dobie Gillis_ back in 1959, long before Valley Girls made it famous. And he was absolutely a beatnik—the goatee, bongos, jazz talk, and terror of “work” made that pretty clear. He may not have invented the modern usage, but he was, like, way ahead of the Valley. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-like-was-it-valley-girls-that-started-that/1032055.md?page=3)