Like

It amuses me that foreign students get credit in speaking tests for using fillers such as "like" . Apparently it makes them sound like a native speaker !

Good grief, not seriously?

I quite agree. It drives me crazy when I hear somebody being interviewed on TV and every 3rd word is "like". They are usually children, teenagers or young adults, male or female and it does not appear to matter what their educational background is or has been.

I have three daughters Charlegirl. The two eldest don't often use the word but the 27 year old does although she tries not to when I am around. Do you think it has something to do with the Facebook 'like' button?

It's when it is used instead of 'as if ' . I could scream!

I find it really irritating but its just a silly fill in word.
I don't think that any one using it, exactly gives the impression that they might be an articulate person though. (To put it politely.)

I like totally agree with Hunt and Nelliemoser like. Surely like they do not use the word like when writing anything like?
I find it very off putting like.

I think it comes from California. Just wait till they catch onto "y'know" and "y'know like"!

I'll join you in screaming like!

Y'know like sounds horrendous. How do these people get through an interview? Are they employable or can the "like" be switched off for occasions such as interviews?

I know I've said this on a previous thread, but when I become world president nobody under the age of 30 will be allowed to use the word "like" at all, even when trying to express moderate affection. Don't know if that will work, but it might give us a bit of a respite!

This has made me reflect that I have never heard my 21-year-old GD using this objectionable 'filler'. Thank goodness! Let's hope the 10-year-old follows suit - she will get very short shrift from her parents if she doesn't. Not to mention grandparents.

Isn't it odd that whereas when we were teenagers we 'fancied' someone, now they say they 'like' them?

Or is it perhaps Australian in origin?
My Australian GD (8) sometimes gets about 3 of them in one sentence bless her. However in her case it is probably a case of making sure her audience remains engaged while her mouth catches up with her thoughts.

From Wikipedia:

Use of like as a filler is quite common in all varieties of spoken English. An example from R L Stevenson's 1886 novel Kidnapped:
What'll like be your business, mannie? (p 7) 'What's, like, wrong with him?' said she at last. (p 193)

I haven't got a copy of the book so I can't verify this!

I was on the tube yesterday, stood next to two american girls, they were talking loudly I counted how many times they said 'like' in conversation, it was well over a hundred times in a few minutes. A guy I worked with recently from Cardiff used 'like' in every sentence. I hate it less than 'you know'.

Over-use of like is of course laziness and sloppy speech but it is quite acceptable as a discourse marker in spoken English. Other common discourse markers in English include you know, you see, actually ,basically , I mean, well and anyway. Having said that, I'm not too keen on it myself and it should be used with care which of course it isn't.

Ana that is particularly fascinating, will have to check it out.

'laidback ' it makes me want to scream also. I've tried to count the number of times 'like' is used by articulate literary critics on e.g Film Review programmes-often several times in one sentence. Even worse is 'kind of like!'or 'sort of like' Grrrrr--

Just reading these, I'm like Wow!!

Like reading this though I hadn't realised how many replies there were. So sorry for like not replying to them all before, shouldn't use the iPad like you miss half the fun. Like they did make me giggle and like thank you everyone. Do you think it is just catching?

Unfortunately, like, Yes