In Defense of “Like”
Thursday, 17 July 2008 -- 6:13 pmSomething has happened to my accent since I moved overseas, and lately a surprising number of people have identified it as Canadian (sorry, Kevin). While some of this might just be an effort to avoid offending me in case I’m not American* (in these days of bad US PR), some of them have been legitimate. Alas, there is one particular aspect of my vernacular that will assuredly give away my origin: I still use “like” incessantly.
Back in the Valley-Girl-stereotype days of the late 80s, I made a sincere effort to curb my Like-ing, but I quickly realized that this was more than just a ditzy vocalized pause. To this day, I continue to overuse the word “like,” and I stand in its defense that it is not just an annoying habit of American English speakers. I do not stand alone on my platform, as just last weekend, I rehashed this discussion with Shane, who Like-s with the same frequency and intent that I do.
Since this has come up more than once recently (BeijingBoyce has summarily banned me from attending the Beijing Olympics for this offense**), I thought it was an opportune time to explain to the rest of the world why otherwise-sensible, educated Americans continue to allow themselves to sound foolish by throwing a random “like” into every other sentence.
In the simplest of explanations, I think it stems from America’s litigious society. The use (or at least my use and Shane’s use) of the word “like” implies a level of inaccuracy. It’s especially useful during storytelling to allow a margin of error, and it simplifies quoting by signaling that you are paraphrasing.
The trite, mocking example of “And I was like…! And she was like…!” is actually just depicting a paraphrased conversation. For example, “When we finally found a table, the waiter was like, ‘You can’t sit there!’” Perhaps the waiter actually said, “Excuse me, ma’am? That table is reserved for VIP customers,” or “Sorry, that table’s closed!” While the wording may not be exact, the idea is there.
Another example, “There must have been like 30 people wandering around, trying to find a place to sit.” So maybe there weren’t 30. Maybe there were 31 or 25, but there were roughly 30.
While I don’t personally subscribe to the exaggerate-to-improve-the-story school of thought, this is another case where ”like” comes in handy. “After all of that, the prices were outrageous! A steak cost like $50!” The steak actually only cost $30. Maybe $35 if you added béarnaise sauce. But presumably $50 drives home the point better. And if anyone ever calls you on it (or takes you to court in the US), you can point out that you said “like,” and therefore you didn’t actually lie to anyone! Just consider it linguistic liability insurance.
* Though technically inaccurate, throughout this post I grudgingly use “America” and “American” to reference the United States of America, because “United States of America” and “person from the United States” are awkward and wordy. But that’s a language discussion for another day. [Edited 17Jul: Or not, since Shane apparently wanted to talk about it now! (see comments)]
** No hard feelings!
July 17th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Thanks for the shout-out!
I agree on the use of “like” and probably use it in similar instances. I haven’t stopped to think about it in a while, but I may do so after reading this.
July 17th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Obviously I totally agree with you on this, but that’s not why I’m commenting.
I feel guilty about the whole “American = U.S.” thing, but working with a lot of foreign people, nobody seems to be bothered by that. In fact, I have worked with both Canadians and South Americans who both refer to the U.S. as “Americans” and do not refer to themselves as such (although I am sure who take it as offensive, just like any pet issue). So it still seems arrogant and offensive, but the other “Americans” I’ve come in contact with by and large don’t seem to be bothered by it, so I guess I shouldn’t worry about it either.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Hey! I said that was a discussion for another day!
But considering our earlier discussion about the continent of America, I’m guessing you know where I’m coming from. I have heard a few people take exception to the usage, which probably makes me more paranoid, but I think mostly it’s just a pet peeve. Why did our nation take on the name of two whole continent (or one, depending on your continental belief system)?
Ah, well. When people ask where we’re from, Lucas “is Indian,” and I’m “from the States” or “from the US.” I get some funny reactions, because it sometimes takes people a second to translate that in their minds to “I’m American.” Then they get this funny look that that says, “Why didn’t she just say she’s American?”
But this was supposed to be a discussion for another day! You trickster, you!