Like

There are a couple of words in the modern west coast vernacular that have been sitting snugly on my nerves for a while now. You know them. You probably say them. I do. Sometimes I hear myself and think, "how did this happen?"

The first has been with us since the early 80's and was introduced during the Valley Girl period of modern slang. I'm not sure how the word "like" became such a versatile term, but somehow it manages to creep into about 90% of some people's sentences at least once, sometimes multiple times - in one sentence.

Apparently the Brits have taken notice and have begun educating the public to this word's origins and effects. It is seen as an American plague spreading to their continent.

The author of this BBC article and I both agree that the word's use amounts to laziness in speech and an unwillingness to bring concrete commitment to one's thoughts. Sometimes it's difficult for me listen carefully to someone's message because I am so distracted by the word peppering their speech so much.

The other word that has crept in a bit more recently is "er", as in, "are you going use that chair?, er...". It's really "or".. but tends to come out "er", and implies that the speaker is about to provide an alternative to the preceding statement, but generally just trails off in awkward vagueness.

When I first moved to San Francisco, I had a boss who would say "er" after almost every question. I had never heard this before and was certain it was just her own weird habit. Maybe she was patient zero in this epidemic, because it seems to be sweeping the nation. It's now so common, I hardly notice it anymore.

Do you think that, like, er is the new like?, er.....

I have fallen prey often to both of these verbal ailments and invite anyone who detects it on me to alert me immediately so I can use my special spray to eradicate it (I wish they really had that). Really though, these words and phrases are just part of our everyday speech and are perfectly acceptable in small amounts. Also, we all know that word nazis can be super annoying - those folks that like to point out incorrect uses of words, grammar, etc. I know - I used to be one. People hated it, so I stopped.

I wonder if someday, young people will rebel against their Valley-talking parents, and start to use painstakingly proper speech, just to get on their parents' nerves. It could like totally happen.