to, like, think that people should, like, be able to like, say a whole, like, sentence without the word 'like'?

[StableButDeluded]

'Tis that time of year again when the students return to university in my fair city, the roads to and from the city centre become mysteriously clogged with traffic and buses are overloaded.

Spent forty minutes on a bus hearing the girl in the seat behind me, like, talking about how some of her, like friends had caught, like Swine Flu, and like, how they said it was like, just like normal flu, and how she like, asked them how they, like, knew they had, like Swine flu and not just kind of like, normal flu, blah, blah, like, blah

I think I lost the will to live at one point.

Sorry, moan over.

Nancy66, is your niece Vicky Pollard?

I got laughed at at work the other day by some of my younger collegues for not knowing what an emo was.

Had to come home and ask ds1. He laughed at me too.

He says they have long hair and walk around all depressed and listen to strange music. And apparently he soooo can't believe I don't know what one is and I'm, like, totally uncool!!!!

The worst thing is that it's more infectious than the common cold. After about a while, you stop noticing it. Then it's only a matter of time before it, like, sneaks in, and one day you realise that you've like used it at least 3 or 4 times in a short conversation.

Emos are just people who are too wimpy to be goths.

Especially horrendous when used to describe a conversation and particularly in conjunction with "turned round"

"Then I was like...and she was like..so I tuned round and I was like...and she turned round and she was like...." and on and on and on and on.

this drives me mad too. ds1 has just moved to year 8 and since the holidays its painful to have a conversation with him. every other word is like or eerrrmm, takes 45 minutes for a conversation that should take place in 10!

twirly - i think she likes to think she's a character from The Hills or Gossip Girl.

"Oh my god, like, did you see him like totally checking you out, he is like so totally into you."

...type thing.

We have to constantly remind her she lives in Lewes not LA

Equally annoying is most of the 'lighter' interviewees on Women's Hour who can't get through a sentence without saying 'sutuv' (sort of). It is the sociologically superior equivalent of like, sutuv.

Another almighty reason, NEVER to get on a bus, or any other form of public transport..

DD who is 8.4 uses this constantly. Her teacher has instigated a like free zone. I love ms k.

I know a (very lovely) woman who ends every single blasted sentence with "or whatever".

Makes my arse clench up. But she is such a great woman that I try to ignore it.

Or whatever.

Hecates

mind you I worked with a girl who put ostensibly (sp) in every sentence which was pretty bloody impressive.
I wondered if someone bought her dictionary toilet paper and that was the only one which stuck. as it were.

YANBU but you already, like, knew that!

A work colleague peppers her sentences with "sort of like, you know, kind of"....often all strung together. Drives me, you know, kind of nuts!

I do feel old sometimes. DCs aren't doing the, like thing yet, but being good Kiwi kids they do have the rising inflection, so every sentence sounds like a question? I realise as someone brought up in Brum, this shouldn't trouble me too much but AAGH!

another favourite here is "Yeah, nah.." (Kiwi version of Vicky Pollard).

I blame 'Friends'.

Everything they say is along the lines of 'Oh. My. God. You did SO not just do that. That's just, like, SOOO totally gross'

I do really like 'Friends' I just never watched it when everyone else on the planet was watching it first time round, so when I finally saw it I realised why everyone in RL was talking in this funny way.

DD2 is, like, almost 5 and randomly does this, like, 'todally' gross american accent.

You see, I shouldn't have laughed the first time she did it.

My 64 year old mum used the word 'trendy' today and I realised that DD1 (11) and I did exactly the same snurk and eye roll 'cos she's, like, so o-l-d.

I completed a part time degree in English last year and one of my last assignments was about linguisitic diversity. I discussed the use of 'like' in every day use and just to show off I can confirm that

"...it has recognised by Cheshire (2002, p23) as a ?focus marker? and has been identified as having originated from southern California and demonstrating ?allegiance to a generalised youth culture? "

And if you want to be as sad interested in lingusitics as I am this is the book from which the information was extracted:

Cheshire, J. (2002) Who We Are and Where We?re Going: Language and Identities in the New Europe. in Gubbins, P. and Holt, M. (eds.) Beyond Boundaries: Language and Identity in Contemporary Europe. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp.19 ? 34

HTH

What is a focus marker?

It's a word that indicates emphasis is given to the information that follows it.

That's what I thought it was. But I am interested in where and how it started. and Why? Why can't people just say

'I went to the doctor's last week and he said I had a virus', as opposed to

'I like, went to the doctor's like, last week and he said I had like, a virus'

I might get that book from the library.

Well, I think the Valley Girl phenomenon has a lot to answer for (anyone remember the song by Frank Zappa in the early 80s?) See this link

A couple of years ago DD was in Year 6 at primary school in Oz - the same age range as Year 7 in the UK, and she came back with this gem.

A girl was having some difficulty in understanding similes, so the others explained to her that it was comparison using "as" or "like".

"Ohh," she said, "So a simile is when you say ' He was, like, really cute' ". Unfortunately she meant it. How the others larfed.

The "yeah, no" noted by the Kiwi poster is rampant in Melbourne, too.

you are so totally, like, being completely unreasonable, yeah? it's totally normal, like, to say this word every few words, so people can get what you mean, innit?

I think it is the new umm or err, I really do.

I am finding myself suffering from an Australian repetitive syndrome already - saying things like "did you do that today, did you?" I've caught it from DH and it's driving me, like, NUTS, man.

you all need to watch this

yes indeed speak with authority...how true!