Re: Use of "like" by teens/others: "I was, like, going to the mall..."

On 31 Mar 2006 05:10:23 -0800, "Will" <billrigby@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


ggdbr01@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
I was standing next to a group of teenagers a few days ago (mostly
girls, but some guys too), and I noticed the frequency of the word
"like" in their exchanges:

[snip]

You should hear Chantelle, the thought-lite winner of the latest round
of "Celebrity Big Brother".

I suspect that somewhere on her body is marked "Made in Japan". She's a
humanoid robot with limited abilities.

She's from Essex, you know, sort of like
California but without the sun. Or the class. Or the geography. Or
the San Andreas Fault. Anyhoo, she pops up on TV every so often, with
her catchphrase "And I'm like Oh My God!" Translated into something
that passes for English, she's actually attempting to articulate the
sentence "I said Oh My God!"

She might also be attempting to articulate "I thought 'Oh My God'".

I don't object to the use of "I/He/She was like 'X'" if X is not just
reported words but includes the accompanying body language and gestures.
(That means I dislike most uses.)

Sidebar. Maggot, of Welsh comedy rap group Goldie Looking Chain, was
roundly condemned in the Big Broother Hoose for (allegedly cruelly)
pointing out Chantelle's educational deficiencies and making her look
stupid. No-one seems to have made the point that it was like shooting
fish in a barrel, and he should rather have been castigated for being
lazy. It would surely have been much more challenging to have tried to
make her look intelligent.

That would have required a major brainware upgrade to the Chantelle
robot.

Anyway Big Brother 7 (UK) will be along in a few months.
--
Peter Duncanson
UK (posting from a.u.e)
.

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