“So I was like, there like, I know crazy bitch right, Cummon, like she doesn’t (like) need to do that. I mean like, she is nasty with it …like”
This girl is from Oxford for Christ’s sake
… that explains her limitations. 
Mate, like I don’t like the overuse of the word like like.
Like, I’m not your mate, like.
Hate it.
Trying to get my son to avoid it (with limited success, though he’s not the worst user of “like” that i have encountered).
But not, in terms of language, much different to using um or err as a filler.
What noise do the French make to allow brain & mouth to resynchronise?
“Bof.”
1 Like
Darren, My reaction to someone’s vocabulary …their style, accent, decibels, all communication! …dot dot dot… (which, from me, indicates “pause for thought”) thinking carefully about it, all takes fiftieth place or later, after whatever it is I think the speaker may be attempting to tell me.
I have no objections whatsoever, to any kind of communication that doesn’t cause me physical pain, unless I find myself locked in a confined space with whoever it is.
People, be free. Get your thoughts out, somehow! If you can’t say it, then sing or dance or paint it. I don’t think I would expect anyone from Oxford to be using any particular kind of English, or English that you favour.
Did you tell the girl how you felt? Perhaps it was important for her, that you understood clearly, and she may not have had any idea that you found her English objectionable.
If you had asked her politely, to speak more clearly, using BBC English, she might have changed her speech at once? You won’t have any affect on her, here?[
2 Likes
OMG Graham. Go to bed and close the curtains. The virus must be multiplying at a phenomenal rate, the sinister “like-like-like” spasm is usually a late sign, and it carries a poor prognosis
Could you persuade a neighbour to put a splash of paint in the form of a skull and cross bones on your front door, to stop the spread of infection?
You are in my thoughts!
" you is like…crazy mate. Like I said. who does you think U is anyhow"
1 Like
Its a verbal tic made popular from Californian pop culture. It just sounds silly on a girl from Stanton Harcourt…like [sic]
1 Like
Like (!) you Jeanette I don’t bother how people choose to express their selves…
I remember when my 3 kids were little telling them that I wouldn’t allow the word ‘hate’ in my house…during one Sunday dinner they all declared that they hated Brussel sprouts which gave me pause for thought as I hated Brussel sprouts when I was little too…x 
My 3 now adults (24 to 31) do occasionally use ‘like’ in the manner currently under discussion and so do I in response…more like…”I was like FFS…OMG…! Can you seriously believe what’s going on…???” x 
1 Like
Euuh… bon, ben… euuh… voyons… ben…
The dialogue in Fred Vargas’ novels has French conversational tics off to a tee.
Absolutely. But, in much the same way that your painting of an apple or a flower or whatever, (OK you probably don’t paint apples or flowers) will be different from the next person’s painting of the same apple or the same flower, I find the way people say things can tell you a lot about that person’s personality/mood. Looking beyond the apple/flower, your painting might be full of sunshine and happiness, or it might be dark and brooding, it might be precise and realistic and like every other apple or it might be imaginative and quirky, it might take me a while to work out it’s an apple. Same apple, but each painting expresses something about the artist as well. For me, that’s how it is with words.
I’m more fascinated by the popular vernacular as you put it - like, amaayzin, sick, whatever the latest word is; in context it’s a little vignette into popular culture. What does irritate me is when it strays out of context. I don’t have a problem with a teenager who knows better saying ‘like’ every other word when she’s with her mates, but in a more formal context - no, get a grip girl, be aware of what kind of impression you’re making on people.
4 Likes
Thank you Anna! I love thinking about language/communication, and all things connected. Must gather my thoughts and BE BRIEF! or write too much and get one of those auto reduction effects, on giant/tedious posts, from the boss! Later! 
In’it had to be explained to our estate agent, like would have her spinning!
1 Like
My dear Dad used “loike” frequently.
I’m 66 now and he died last century.
Yower dad, Ian, did he die or did he doy? It’s not a very noice thing to ask, but I had to troy. Oy’m a Brummie, that’s woy.
1 Like
I think is sounds rather dumb the constant repetition. Makes the transgressor seem rather simple and uninteresting… Which might be quite the opposite.
We have a wonderful rich language. Why not stretch your vocab instead of the urban lazy tongue…init guv
2 Likes
He were ‘Ampshire! Southampton born and bred!
1 Like
Could’ve been understood in Brummagem loike.
The use of the word “like” does anoy some people:
3 Likes
I find ‘y’know’ more of an irritant especially when used by people in the Media or connected to it as reconteurs or talking heads.
1 Like