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Like, what is going on here?

The word “like” — we all use it, youth especially. This strong influence in our conversational language seems to have developed a life of its own, and we cringe hearing it; to some it may even suggest ignorance. But the use of the term “like” is far-reaching and has become commonplace. How did we get here?

What does “like” mean in our everyday conversations?

The prepositional definition of “like” in Merriam-Webster simply means “similar to,” but the word has become much more than that. We see it overused, and we ask this: Why do we need to say something is similar to something else instead of just letting it be that something? It’s as if we’re not confident enough to make a definitive statement. We hesitate. We use “like” as a crutch. And many may not even realize they’re saying it. How is this possible?

How did it start?

Thinking about the word “like,” one might wonder about how it’s become so prevalent in everyday conversation. Maybe we think of Valley Girl culture, as sprung from the 1980s movie, as part of that transformation. A Valley Girl, according to grunge.com, is a “… stereotype defined by tween and teen girls from Southern California’s affluent San Fernando Valley. Often depicted as materialistic, air-headed, and sometimes snarky, Valley Girls had their own style of dress and makeup, complete with their own color palette of bright pastels.” Phrases from the Valley Girl era that immediately come to mind are, “Like, oh my gosh, can you believe it?” or “Like, for real.”

Used by the Beatniks

The truth is that using the word “like” goes back even further than Valley Girls; it seems to have gained traction with the Beatniks in the 1950s, who were considered an artistic subculture. According to Merriam-Webster, a Beatnik was “a person who participated in a social movement of the 1950s and early 1960s which stressed artistic self-expression and the rejection of the mores of conventional society.” They similarly used “like” as a hesitation in their speaking, as they were characters reluctant to openly judge or reject others, and tormented with uncertainly in themselves.

“Like” can be useful

Based on these examples, it seems that subcultural trends have a tendency to blend into our everyday language. This influence now has us using the term “like” in various ways: For one, it’s being used to compare similarities: “She is like a plastic bag in the wind,” or multiple times in a sentence to describe a situation: “I came home to like, a huge mess, with like, my roommates just standing there watching, and like, nobody knew what to do,” or to quote other people and their actions: “He was like, ‘I don’t even know her.’” Another way it’s used might be to fill uncomfortable spaces in a conversation: “I just don’t know … like, I just don’t know why she would do that.” Also, it can buy time for the speaker to collect their thoughts. It’s a filler while they figure out what to say next.

“Like” is not slacker language at all as we might quickly judge; it goes far back and has simply become used more regularly. It can serve multiple other linguistics functions. Its usage seems to suggest that everything is like itself, rather than itself. It demonstrates our thoughts in motion as we’re speaking. We use it to pinpoint factuality in what we’re saying: “There were like, hundreds of people standing around.” What the speaker means is this: For real, there truly were hundreds of people standing around. Why the need to use “like”? Because it simply reinforces what we’re saying. It can also soften the blow for your listener: “Like, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Your message is still being delivered, but it’s gentler.

While the term “like” may be overused, it’s simply become a part of our culture, for the educated and uneducated alike. Listen and you will hear it everywhere. Crutch or not, it evidently serves some needed purpose, otherwise it wouldn’t have made it this far, and it will be interesting to see how it evolves in the language of future generations.

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