This week I decided to count the number of times people said "like" while we were having a class discussion. I counted a total of 179 unnecessary likes before I gave up and decided I couldn't count anymore. I started to think about all the times that I say "like" or "um" during the day, and I have to admit I say those words a lot. My parents always try to remind me not to say like as much and I never understood why until I listened to the way people talked in school. I found that when people used words such as like or um it was extremely distracting. Their thoughts were broken up by the words and it also made their opinion seem less valid. If they had to make constant pauses while talking, their opinion did not seem as strong or as well thought out as those who did not need pauses to collect their thoughts.
Interestingly enough, the same day that I counted likes my teacher talked briefly about the word "um" during class. He mentioned how some one had thought at first that the word "um" was used by people because everyone had such a vast vocabulary of words that they were pausing to try and chose the perfect one. After further research however he changed his idea of the word "um." He decided that the word, put simply, meant "shut up." It's a way for a person speaking to let the listener know that they are not done talking. Even if they pause to take a breath or think, they'll say um so that the listener knows they're not allowed to start talking yet because they still have more to say. I thought this was interesting and also very true. It started me thinking on what I thought the meaning of the word like was when people used it unnecessarily. There are two ways that I would describe the ways people use it. People use the word like when explaining what someone said, "She was like 'I don't want to eat that.'" It's substituted in for the word "said." Another way is when people are not sure of something, "Can you pick me up at like 5?" They don't know if they want to be picked up at five exactly or perhaps after, hence the "like" is added.Overall, I understand that its hard not to use these words, but I think its a bad habit that everyone should try to break. Used in moderation these words can make sense, but otherwise they are can be frustrating to the listener.
What do you think are other possible meanings of the words like and um? Can you think of any other words we use too often?
When I saw the title of the article I laughed. I did this because I too started counting how many times "like" is used in our American Studies class! I also found it astonishing the number of times students use it. But, I use it too, so it's hard for me to criticize this habit without feeling like a total hypocrite. After I realized how I sounded, the next time I participated in class discussion, I tried to slow down my thought process while talking. I found that this method really helped lowering my use of "like".
ReplyDeleteWhen your speaking infront of so many other classmates, your mind is spinning trying to find the right words. This is why I think "like" is such a common word used in class. I believe that if we all slowed down and took a deep breath while we're talking, we could minimize our use of "like" tenfold.
-Chrisanthy S
I also found this post amusing, because it is so true! I was listening to a girl give a presentation the other day in a different class, and I knew she had a tendency to say "like" a lot, so I thought I would count how many times she said the word. I reached 80 times halfway through her five minute presentation! Even once I stopped counting how many times she said "like", and tried to listen to her presentation, all I could hear was "like this" and "like that".
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point, that we all use this word way too much. Listening to how many times others use the word makes me want to stop using it. Whenever, I think of the word "like", and its over-usage, I think back to when I was in third grade or so, and I was having dinner with my mom's friend and her daughter, who was in high school at the time. After the dinner, I was amazed at how many times this older girl had said "like". But now, I use it just as much as her! So, this has had me thinking is the word "like" simply a teenage "thing"? I know I definitely did not use the word as much when I was younger, so what prompted me to start adding this word into all of my sentences? I wonder if this could have anything to do with the study you brought up, that Mr. O'Connor mentioned in class. Is it that as we grow up, we feel more pressure to tell people to "shut up", because we want to talk and we feel our opinions are more valid? Whatever it is, I understand that the over-use of this word makes me look less intelligent, and like Chrisanthy, I am trying to "slow down my thought process", and use the "like" less frequently.