Overuse of "Like"
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Anonymous
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The overuse of "like" by tween/teen girls (and even some adult women) drives me crazy!! I drive my daughters' sports carpools several days a week and this is a typical sentence exchanged by these girls:
"Today, I like went to the bus stop, and like everyone was wearing like jeans. It was like ninety degrees outside. I'm like, 'aren't you guys like hot wearing jeans?' and they're all like 'no, we look good.' Like whatever..." I constantly correct it in my own kids at home (not in front of others) but hear them lapse back into it as soon as they're around their friends. Is it me, or does it sound completely stupid? I want my girls to be smart, articulate young ladies, and using 'like' several times in every statement just sounds stupid. I guess it's the 201X version of Valley Girl speak. Do you allow your daughters to speak like this, or do you try to help them break this ugly habit?! Do you think teachers should be addressing this in school, or am I just a grumpy old stick in the mud for thinking it's a problem? |
Anonymous
| Try to get them to read more. My three daughters are book worms and have never talked that way. |
Anonymous
| The 1980's called and would like their complaint back. |
Anonymous
LOL! Yes, I spoke this way as a teen in the 80's. I grew out of it by college. |
Anonymous
| It drives me crazy! |
Anonymous
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Never mind.
Sigh. |
Anonymous
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What about starting a written sentence with 'like'?!?
Like, WTF?!? |
Anonymous
| Sometimes it irritates me. Other times I am just, like, whatever.... |
Anonymous
As long as they are able to turn it off and on as needed, there is nothing wrong with them talking like their friends around their friends. Codeswitch. |
Anonymous
| I playfully got my 8-year-old to lighten up saying it all the time. I'd ignore the "likes" here and there in one or two sentences but when she'd get on a roll talking (and boy can she get on a roll) I'd say LIKE every time she said it. Was never a cruel taunting/mocking type thing in case anyone is wondering, was just Daddy being his silly self. But it didn't take long for her to realize that A) Daddy repeating it seemingly every six seconds was annoying and B) all she had to do was stop saying it so frequently and it would allow her to talk as much as she liked without interruption. I don't think it's a foolproof tactic and wouldn't advise it for everyone, it worked for me because my daughter and I have a playful type of relationship. |
Anonymous
| My older son drove me crazy with "like" all through 6th and 7th grade. Ongoing correction did not work. I eventually found myself saying it at times. Better now in 8th grade. Probably takes time. I hope it is gone. |
Anonymous
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It drives me nuts too. I ask DD to "Say that again, without all the likes" sometimes, or will interrupt her and say "You've now said 'like' four times and still haven't gotten out the gist of the sentence. Take a breath, think about what you want to say, THEN spit it out."
If she could codeswitch I would be okay with that. So far (7th grade) she doesn't seem capable of that. Jeans in 90 degree weather sounds awful! |
Anonymous
| It can be really awful. Unfortunately, my older teen daughter uses this word constantly. We have tried to work on this for years but it is truly a verbal tic for her and I thought about sending her to a speech therapist or vocal coach because of it. |
Anonymous
| I agree with another poster. If he/she is able to turn it off on demand, then fine. I am 56 and I still use the word like. But if I am with someone I am trying to impress, I can easily edit that word out of my conversation. |
Anonymous
| I hate like and literally. |