Is it possible for young people not to say 'like' in each sentence?

[Laura Corin]

I was recently staying in northern Thailand, and at the hotel there was a group of recent graduates from excellent US universities (okay, I was eavesdropping). Each sentence they spoke had at least one 'like' in it. Then I was at my brother's house near London just after Christmas, and my niece (fifteen) spoke the same way.

 

My boys haven't started speaking in this way but have noticed the habit (Calvin said to me, 'When I'm a teenager, I'm going to have to learn to say 'like' a lot'). Is it possible to fight this? If so, how? Can these young people switch register and speak differently to a boss, for example? Do tell.

 

Thanks

 

Laura

[Miss Peregrine]

I wish I knew. I grew up in "the OC" :rolleyes: and I still say it.

 

I really hate that about myself. :o

[*anj*]

Same here. We did the Valley Girl thing in high school, and it has unfortunately stuck. I say it a lot more than I realize, and I don't like it. Thanks for mentioning this because it is something that I like, you know, need to work on.

 

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

I was recently staying in northern Thailand, and at the hotel there was a group of recent graduates from excellent US universities (okay, I was eavesdropping). Each sentence they spoke had at least one 'like' in it. Then I was at my brother's house near London just after Christmas, and my niece (fifteen) spoke the same way.

 

My boys haven't started speaking in this way but have noticed the habit (Calvin said to me, 'When I'm a teenager, I'm going to have to learn to say 'like' a lot'). Is it possible to fight this? If so, how? Can these young people switch register and speak differently to a boss, for example? Do tell.

 

Thanks

 

Laura

 

You do what I do and, like, tease them mercilessly.

 

I told my 20-something friend the other day that if the 4 y/o started saying "like" all the time, I would have to come and beat her senseless. We laughed, and I don't think she'll change, but I did let her know in my roundabout, humor-filled way that I Noticed.

 

For my dd, being in school has rubbed off on her speech patterns. Her I *do* tease mercilessly. :D

[Momof2kids]

That's a hard one. I do it too but I am working really hard at NOT doing it. It is annoying. I also gently correct my daughter when she does it. (Not in front of others though!).

[Kat in GA]

Ya know...it's like how they talk...and stuff :D

[WTMindy]

You do what I do and, like, tease them mercilessly.

We threatened pushups for every "like". They aren't too bad now, but they are aware of it and don't want to say it all the time.

[Maria/ME]

Same here. We did the Valley Girl thing in high school, and it has unfortunately stuck.

 

 

Ok? Like Anj. I am SO with you on that whole Valley Girl thing? I was, like, SO into that whole thing in 8th grade? And we were WAY tubular.

 

I must've drove my teachers/family/adults around me INSANE. I know what Laura is talking about, but "like" doesn't bother me have as bad as "you know, right?" per a thread someone else started earlier...drives. me. nuts.

 

Laura, my daughter has picked up "like" from other girls her age. She does it when she is trying to mock obnoxious teens. I'm glad she sees the difference. Altho not so happy she's learning to mock others. Wonder where she gets that part from???;)

[HappyGrace]

where two teen girls were talking and I could NOT believe how many times they said "like"! It was a LOT, several times in a sentence (yes, I was counting because I was amazed.) I seriously wanted to go up to them and ask them if they realized they were doing it so much. These are very bright girls from conservative families too, so I think that's why I was so surprised. Sounds like it's a universal problem if it's happening way over on the other side of the world too though!

[Mamagistra]

Ok? Like Anj. I am SO with you on that whole Valley Girl thing? I was, like, SO into that whole thing in 8th grade? And we were WAY tubular.

 

I know, right? ;):D

[Whisperlily]

My DD has had a few of those *try* to creep in. It's like the "umm" curse. Since I did a lot of public speaking when I was 17, I learned how to stop saying "um" or "uh" or "like" pretty quickly.

 

I usually turn and repeat their phrase with a twinkle in my eye, and an emphasis on the word that I'm trying to eliminate.

 

So... you like want to go to the um store?

 

It's usually followed by a giggle and a properly rephrased sentence. Or, if it's not well received, a roll of the eyes and a "MoOom!"

 

But I'm a stickler for proper pronunciation, enunciation and grammar. (At least with my kids. Don't judge me here, of course. :D )

[Janet in WA]

 

Then I was at my brother's house near London just after Christmas, and my niece (fifteen) spoke the same way.

You mean it's not just, like, an American thing?

[Laura Corin]

'I'm, like, going down the road? To see my, like, friend?'

 

Laura

[*anj*]

I remember that one of my mother's pet peeves was hearing someone turn a statement into a question.

Like this:

My name is Angela?

I'm hanging out on the wtm boards?

 

And of course there's that artificial lift at the end of the sentence.

 

She always said it was annoying? And a sign of low intelligence?

:):):)

[King Alfred Academy]

We were in a restaurant a few days ago and there were two college aged girls talking to each other. They both said "like" so many times. In fact, i counted it once and within TWO sentences she said it 6 times! She even said, "like, like" twice! Ugh!:eek:

[Liz CA]

I was recently staying in northern Thailand, and at the hotel there was a group of recent graduates from excellent US universities (okay, I was eavesdropping). Each sentence they spoke had at least one 'like' in it. Then I was at my brother's house near London just after Christmas, and my niece (fifteen) spoke the same way.

 

My boys haven't started speaking in this way but have noticed the habit (Calvin said to me, 'When I'm a teenager, I'm going to have to learn to say 'like' a lot'). Is it possible to fight this? If so, how? Can these young people switch register and speak differently to a boss, for example? Do tell.

 

Thanks

 

Laura

 

I corrected each and every instance when ds did it. He dropped the habit quickly after hearing a teen on TV who hardly used any other words. The whole sentece was a string of *likes*. Horrid

[ElaineJ]

I think that teens can take longer to put what they are thinking into words sometimes because there is so much going on at a feeling level (not just a thought level) for them all the time. "Like" seems to be just one of those filler sounds you throw into your sentences when you are trying to think of how to complete your thought. Also, I don't think that teens have many role models in popular culture of articulate people whose speech patterns they might want to emulate. When I hear actors and popular musicians interviewed, I am seldom impressed by their eloquence. Oh well....I guess there could be worse teen afflictions?:rolleyes:

 

Elaine

[Brigitte]

Try living with 250 teenagers..."like" will drive you up a tree.

 

A new faculty member sent out an email one day to the faculty to see if there was anyway we could stop/discourage the use of "like." He was so distrubed that the kids used "like" several times in a sentence. It was really cute, and naive.

 

We know a 6 y.o. who says it ALL the time. She has become buddies with one of my twins' friends and now she is saying all the time. It is really sad, because they both just sound stupid.

[lynn]

I asked ds about the girls in his 9th grade classes he said none of them talk like that here. I guess their all just prim and proper southern bells:rolleyes:

[Heather in the Kootenays]

We've tried fines for every "like" used improperly. What I find most annoying is that I've picked up the habit.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

I remember that one of my mother's pet peeves was hearing someone turn a statement into a question.

Like this:

My name is Angela?

I'm hanging out on the wtm boards?

 

And of course there's that artificial lift at the end of the sentence.

 

She always said it was annoying? And a sign of low intelligence?

:):):)

 

Oh, this makes me INSANE! I don't deal with this one with merciless teasing. I deal with this one -- and it was a real problem when we brought dd home from ps -- by a long lecture about how women are perceived as weak in the broader society and that seeming perpetually unsure about what one says communicates ones *personal* weakness and incompetence like nothing else. And then she gets (well, "got," as she doesn't do that around ME anymore, lol) to respeak the phrase with power and confidence.

 

And then there's the whole notion of, when one is given a choice, saying, "I don't care" as a substitute for "I have no preference." (And "I have no preference" is almost as bad. GET one. Or make one up.) I brainwashed my kids so much that when my niece and nephew say it to me, they used to gasp. :D I would tell them, "Well, if you don't care, I don't care either. So maybe you shouldn't have either one. "

 

I would laugh at their wails of "Noooooo!" and tell them to Choose Already.

 

From the stories I hear from the family, my grandmother had exactly this same pet peeve. The nut doesn't fall far from the tree.

[Plaid Dad]

I think that teens can take longer to put what they are thinking into words sometimes because there is so much going on at a feeling level (not just a thought level) for them all the time. "Like" seems to be just one of those filler sounds you throw into your sentences when you are trying to think of how to complete your thought.

 

Very true. One way to counteract this - which I've used on myself - is to ask the speaker to slow down and formulate a whole thought (=sentence) before beginning to speak. We have to do this sometimes with our 6yo dd, who is a highly verbal extrovert. Sometimes she is so eager for attention that she will initiate a conversation despite having nothing to say. ;) She doesn't really care what we're talking about, as long as it results in the emotional lift she's looking for. There's certainly a time and place for "sweet nothings," whether romantic or just friendly, but it's important to me to teach her the power of the well-chosen word.

[Heather in the Kootenays]

Pam, I'm with you on both counts. Uptalk makes me want to shriek and I've delivered similar lectures. And "I don't care" is not permitted. Pick something.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

Try living with 250 teenagers..."like" will drive you up a tree.

 

A new faculty member sent out an email one day to the faculty to see if there was anyway we could stop/discourage the use of "like." He was so distrubed that the kids used "like" several times in a sentence. It was really cute, and naive.

 

We know a 6 y.o. who says it ALL the time. She has become buddies with one of my twins' friends and now she is saying all the time. It is really sad, because they both just sound stupid.

 

Naive though it may be, it's a worthy goal. Next time you see said faculty member, tell him I'm doing my part for the cause. :)

[OneRoomHomeSchool]

It drives me crazy!!!! :eek:

 

My 2 daughters do this too (ages 9 and 12), they picked it up at school and from friends. Now I get to correct it! :D

 

I do say things to them such as: it's like fun or it IS fun? They laugh...

[*anj*]

 

And then there's the whole notion of, when one is given a choice, saying, "I don't care" as a substitute for "I have no preference."

 

Yes, and the close cousin to that is "whatever."

 

I am pretty sure I've gotten my kids out of that one. I have only heard it a couple of times (of course accompanied by the shoulder-shrug-neck-turn) and I lit into them so much that...well I think we've moved beyond it.

 

Yikes!

Do we, like sound like, you know, a bunch of crotchety old ladies or whatever? I don't care.

[Valerie in Chicago]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv0aDhqxiHg

 

then, like, you'll totally, you know, like this, ok?

[Antonia]

When my children say it, I stop them and make them start the sentence over. I hate it so much, I don't let them use the word 'like' at all even when it fits; they have to say "It was *similar to* such and such" or "I really *appreciate or enjoy* this or that." :cool:

[cin]

I have a friend, whom I love dearly, but I cannot spend any long length of time wiht her because her LIKES drive me CRAZY. Of course, I am 43, and she, around 30. And I am just, like, so crazy by the way she always like, says the word like.....:rolleyes:

[Renee in NC]

My ds is 14, in ps, and doesn't say it. I haven't notice his friends doing it either.