The Likes of Us

Have you, like, noticed how, like, young people, like (and by young people I mean, like, anyone under 35) use the word “like” a lot. In fact, if it, like, weren’t for the, like, word “like”, most young people would have a, like, severely limited vocabulary.

Oh, I know what you’ll, like, say: that every generation has its own, like, mode of expression replete with its own, like, idiosyncrasies. But I, like, think this is, like, something else altogether.

One of the, like, downsides of, like, using public transport (not that I’m actually, like, anti public transport; in fact, I’m, like, very fond of it. I just won’t, like, pretend that it, like, doesn’t have a downside or two) is that I, like, spend a good deal of my, like, time standing on station platforms and at, like, bus stations. And at these, like, locations, I, like, am often in the, like, position of being the, like, reluctant witness to conversations between, like, groups of young people.

And it, like, seems the word “like” features so heavily in their, like, conversations, as to practically, like, be the only thing they, like, say. I mean “like” can actually, like, mean “to speak”. As in: “So I’m, like, what are you looking at?” It also, like, seems that “like” can mean “to think”. To wit: “So I’m, like, what are you looking at?” Further, it, like, appears that “like” can also, like, mean “to be”, “to do”, “to perceive”, and a whole host of, like, useful activities.

So, like, maybe I’m, like, being too, like, hard on the young folks. Afterall, if they can, like, reduce the, like, subtlety and complexity of the, like, English language to a single, like, word, who am I, like, to pass comment? Maybe I, like, should just, like, chill out, like, and take the midnight train to, like, incomprehensibility.

So, like, what are you looking at?

Talk to you soon,

BB

Quote for the day: The good life calls for simplicity and moderation, not sackcloth and ashes. (Seneca)