Why is "like" viral?

[SecondmateFlint]

I know I say it...I catch myself and stop it. However sometimes I'm not paying attention and it slips out. I say it instead of "said." So instead of saying "I said...then she said...then he said..." and I don't want to use my writing tools ("I said...then she murmured...then he exclaimed") I just say "like."

I was like, "Hey! What's up?" And she said "Not much homes." And so-n-so was like "Blargheyurgenmanson."

Wow, what nonsense. I hope that all made sense?

 

[Koganesaga]

It's because, like, people have to, like, think before they, like, speak so, like, they have to, like, add something which leaves the sentence, like, open, like, so the listener doesn't, like, think they've finished their, like, sentence, or something.

(Lots of people where I live say "or something" at the end of what they say)

I Cringed while reading that...

I'm just saying language changes, but you can choose to accept or not accept as you please. For example, I will never use the word "fishes" (unless I'm using it as an example of bastardized words). The plural of "fish" is "fish" and it always will be, for me at least, no matter what linguists might say.

I suppose my response may have been a bit rash, it's just that it's so inarticulate, instantly sapping any intelligence that may have come before it, making it hard to take the person seriously (good lucky at job interviews), on the bright side however, whenever a friend makes a beautifully well though out and generally lucid and rational argument, the second it slips from their lips it's my excuse to auto void. Still I'd rather be wrong than have flat canine teeth.

 

[MetaKnight19]

I use like out of context quite a lot, just out of habit. I often find myself replacing a comma with like unintentionally.

 

[ethaninja]

I tend to say "right" a LOT.

 

[Abengoshis]

It's because, like, people have to, like, think before they, like, speak so, like, they have to, like, add something which leaves the sentence, like, open, like, so the listener doesn't, like, think they've finished their, like, sentence, or something.

(Lots of people where I live say "or something" at the end of what they say)

I Cringed while reading that...

Then my work here is done.

 

[Koganesaga]

Still I'd rather be wrong than have flat canine teeth.

Flat canine teeth?

A strange reply if you didn't get the reference, which I suppose you didn't as it was my fault for being vague.

I meant people doing something like that might cause me to grind and dull my teeth to the point where my canine teeth may as well be another set of molars.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

I say it all the time without noticing... I think that it's better than saying "uhhh" but it's still annoying to myself that I say it.

 

[TheFacelessOne]

I know what you mean. I personally hate it (along with people saying "you know"), but unfortunately, I suffer from both speech incorrections.

I'm trying to stop though.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

In the case of women - because they're bitches. You can tell they're fucking retarded when they overuse the word "like" for no other reason than to pad out their sentences. (No I'm not being sexist, I've observed this and not one girl I know or saw who overuses "like" is remotely likeable).

In the case of men - because they apparently failed English class.

 

[ghostrider409895]

Like is just a filler word. It gives more time to think and come up with what you will say next.
I really do not understand how this word got to be one though. It is a full word, unlike ?um? or ?er?. I never really understood how it became a filler word. Maybe it came up because it gives a slightly longer pause than the word fragments.

It is kind of annoying. I can choose not to mind it, but I simply cannot stand it when it is used so much that you cannot follow the sentence. Has any one else had a time like that, where you cannot really understand what is being said because of all of the likes? When it happens in almost every other word it is just annoying.

 

[Umberphoenix]

Because it's like, easy to say, you know, like?

 

[TheTaco007]

People involuntarily absorb traits from people around them. This is why cloning will never work perfectly, because the clone has not been exposed to the same environment the original has. "Like" is an example of this. If one of your friends who you hang around with often is a 16 year old girl, odds are you'll be using "like" when you shouldn't be, too.

 

[ghostrider409895]

Like, like any accent, usually comes from where you were born or where you were raised. It is kind of like when you hear an American accent next to a British accent. It affects the way of speaking, and how you form sentences. Some people were raised on including like, so they like talk like this. Some people were raised to perfectly articulate words. Some people had parents and friends that always used, so you know right, and you know, that is what they based speaking on. It is a cultural thing where you talk like how the people around you talked when you were little. You practice what you learned.

 

[LeonLethality]

I strictly use it as a word for comparison as it is supposed to be used.

And sometimes as an affectionate term such as "I like this"

 

[Klarinette]

I don't knowwwww D:
I used to use it all the time, and I really wish I could say I've completely stopped. In some of the contexts I use it in, I've tried replacing it with another word, and come up empty-handed a lot of the time. I think, however, I often use it to replace things, like the phrase "for example".... like I did just then. GAH! Oh god! Is that even avoidable, in that context?

One that I've defeated, however, is: "So, then I was like..." replaced by: "So, then I said..." because I didn't say something similar to that; it's what I actually said.