I'm LIKE About to Scream!
If it's one thing I don't understand these days, it's why parents (and teachers) don't stop kids from saying the word LIKE all the time. I mean really, is it that tough to find words to use these days that every other word needs to like...like?
According to Patricia O'Conner, in an article called Language: Learning to like like, the word 'like' is a friendly word. I don't think so. For me, it makes what people are trying to say so convoluted, I often forget where they started because I'm trying to keep up with the 'real' words in the sentence.
I teach a financial education camp for kids and teens and I always chat with the kids about how they talk. I don't let them use the word 'like' anywhere in their speech except for when it's supposed to be used, like in a real sentence when they are describing that something is like something else.
And it's not hard to do. All you have to do is make the kids aware that they are doing it and then tell them how stupid they sound (yes, that's what I tell them) and how they're never going to be hired if they sit in an interview and use 'like' every third word.
My kids immediately start realizing how often they're saying the word and, well, basically, they can't talk for quite a while because every time they try to say something, LIKE slips out and they get frustrated or silly (i.e., embarrassed) or experience any other myriad of emotions. Eventually though, they do get it.
The point is...we hear them say it all the time. Heck, I catch myself using the word sometimes and immediately correct myself and move on.
Parents and teachers could easily vanquish this annoying verbal habit from the mouths of our babes everywhere in a week by simply not allowing it in their homes and classrooms.
Well, like, are you willing to take the time to help clean up the English language, or not? It's no wonder the rest of the world thinks Americans are stupid. We SOUND stupid.
So what do you say? Shall we learn to speak proper English again anytime soon? My ears sure hope so.
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