# Teenspeak: unique to Americans

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenspeak-unique-to-americans/147436>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 9, 2003, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenspeak-unique-to-americans/147436 "2003-01-09T03:02:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenspeak-unique-to-americans/147436/41 "2003-01-10T21:59:57Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by pulykamell \*  
> \*\*I’ve always interpreted “like” to have a slightly different meaning than “said.” “Like” stresses the fact that what I am about to say is not verbatim what was actually said, but conveys the general information. \*\*

This is exactly how I feel when I use it. I tend to be rather anal about getting the exact phrasing right when I’m quoting someone. And unlike print, it’s a bit harder to convey that sentiment. It’s the difference between

Jane said Tom is a jerk.  
and  
Jane said, “Tom is a jerk.”

So I may use “like” in the first instance, to show that it wasn’t an exact quote from Jane.

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**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenspeak-unique-to-americans/147436/42 "2003-01-12T04:34:00Z")

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And the computer went “beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep” and I was like, “Unnngh?!”

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**Author:** ![Megan\_O](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Megan\_O](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Megan_O)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenspeak-unique-to-americans/147436/43 "2003-01-12T07:21:25Z")

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I learned in French class about their teenspeak. Certain words are pretty much spoken backwards. The adults have a hard time understanding.

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**Author:** ![crinklebat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@crinklebat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crinklebat)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2003, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenspeak-unique-to-americans/147436/44 "2003-01-12T09:02:17Z")

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Well, as a native of the actual Valley of which the Valley Girl is native (w00t San Fernando) I’m quite amused by the idea of teenspeak. Of course when I’m with my friends we all talk val. Of course! How could we not! And I find that when I come home from their houses I have to really work to get out of the accent. “Like ohhhhhmigod it was totally amusing…” I trail off at the end of sentences and soften all my vowels into a sort of generic (thing that is written as an upside down e phonetically; I don’t remember what it’s called). Of course, I think that students develop dialects of their own. I come from a small high school program and find that we develop words and references that I hear nowhere else. It’s an unconscious exclusion thing–we like to feel as though we’re part of a group so we have special linguistic rules that only we use.

I see this also among subsets of grown-up society. Computer nerds? Helloooo? And I love reading fliers for youth events of the '60s…they had so much fun slang.

I hope to lose the val thing completely when I go off to college, though. It’s really embarrassing to be caught off my guard and say something totally vacuous like, “Shut. up. omigod.”

BTW, the “he’s all” usage being discussed? I saw that as early as '92. But, then, I’m from the Valley.

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