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Language history and we: the case of “like”

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Re: Language history and we: the case of “like”

#2
I've tried to get out of the habit of this one now that I have kids learning from my example, but it really takes a lot of focus. What's funny is that I can remember the period as a kid where it was taking and being bothered by it ("why does everyone want to sound like Shaggy from Scooby Doo?"), before I apparently gave in and adopted it.

Re: Language history and we: the case of “like”

#3
post #2

I've tried to get out of the habit of this one now that I have kids learning from my example, but it really takes a lot of focus. What's funny is that I can remember the period as a kid where it was taking and being bothered by it ("why does everyone want to sound like Shaggy from Scooby Doo?"), before I apparently gave in and adopted it.

Language is a social construct. People tend to modify their speech to be in line with the speech of those around them.

Re: Language history and we: the case of “like”

#7
post #5

[flagged]

" Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith. " https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

I submit that, given the obvious disdain the author has for the speech of ordinary people and what he considers "low" culture, "snob" is an entirely appropriate term.

Re: Language history and we: the case of “like”

#8

The worst one today is people adding "uhhh" to the end of every sentence. "What did you do-wuuuh?" "Where should we go-wuuuh?" "Can't you see-yuhhh?" It grates on you even worse than vocal fry and like inserting like into like everything you like say.

Who is doing this and where?

Re: Language history and we: the case of “like”

#9

The worst one today is people adding "uhhh" to the end of every sentence. "What did you do-wuuuh?" "Where should we go-wuuuh?" "Can't you see-yuhhh?" It grates on you even worse than vocal fry and like inserting like into like everything you like say.

Loads of languages around the word have a sentence-final particle that doesn’t mean anything on its own but serves as a vocative particle, creates a bond between speaker and listener, softens the assertion for politeness sake, etc. Some varieties of UK English already used innit? that way. It’s pretty normal human linguistic behavior.
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