When did people, like, start saying “like”?

[WiganNorthWest]

I, like, find myself saying ‘like’ quite a bit to, like, fill pauses when I’m talking, kinda like saying ‘um’. I don’t know many people under like age 20 but I know a lot of people in their twenties do this. Do you ever, like, catch yourself doing this (and how old are you?). Do you ever notice older people doing this-I don’t ? When did this way of speaking start? Do,like, young kids speak like this?

Definitely at least 90s. See "Clueless" and Hilary on "Fresh Prince of Bel Aire".

I trained myself out of it at a young age because it sounds thick (sorry). Maybe it sounds ok on an adult but teens doing it in the 90s just sounded dumb.

Every so often you catch yourself adding a word too much (basically, essentially etc) and you just gotta stop!

The one thats grinding my gears at the moment is people saying "yeah" in the middle of a sentence.

One of my colleagues does it in our meetings. He's in the middle of explaining something, pauses and then says "yeah" and then carries on. What is the point?

Ok, one other. The random "ya know" thrown into a sentence many times. Arggghhhhh!!!!

It’s strange to wonder if it was just one person who started it. And then it spread. Or if multiple people did in different places. And why that word. Rather than anything else.

It’s almost as annoying as people starting a sentence/explanation with “So....” .

Drives me absolutely nuts.
I find myself having to turn off what should be interesting TV prorammes about History etc. because of that plus the constant repetion of what was said 5 minutes ago and the ‘catch up’ rehashing everything after a two minute break ! 😡 Oh, and the explaining of things that are self expanatory.
It really is TV for the terminally stupid.

All TV documentaries assume the attention span of a gnat.

@ErrolTheDragon

I'm 60, I can remember DM commenting on youngsters using 'like' as a 'filler', so that would have been in the 70s or possibly 60s.

You're the same age as me and I got smacked for saying like when I was around 10yo.

Made me think of clueless so i'd say 90's.

4ensic - my recollection from that time was that it was a possibly American import from hippyish culture - picture a long haired bloke in flared jeans and a tie dyed shirt ... "yeah man, I'm like ..."

Just another annoying Americanism.

@ErrolTheDragon

4ensic - my recollection from that time was that it was a possibly American import from hippyish culture - picture a long haired bloke in flared jeans and a tie dyed shirt ... "yeah man, I'm like ..."

My mother said I sounded like an American so you could be right!

As @NativityDreaming says, the 'like' filler was characteristic of the Valley Girl stereotype in 1980s California. I think the same is true of vocal fry. I don't know where they picked it up from.

My whole life, I'm in my 40s, but I thought it was more a colloquial thing "what you doing, like?". A bit like the use of 'man', "here man, what you doing, like?" (North east)

I've always done it and I am 38.

I'm mid 30s and it was in full swing when I was at high school! I still do it although I try not to!

Since school over 30 years ago 🙈

I believe there's an example of using 'like' in Chaucer. So it's been around a while.