Korean Job Discussion Forums

[joelove]

Been back in Canada for a while. I think about one out of ten words or so used by most people speaking English is "like". I sort of had forgot about this living abroad. Maybe it's mostly younger people. I can't help but notice it sometimes. I guess we all feel other people's conversations can seem a bit irritating or inane at times. I wonder when foreigners come over whose English is not so good, if they think, "why the hell does everybody say 'like' all the time?" For about ten percent of everything you say to be this one word probably seems odd. I thought "the" was the most common word, but in everyday informal speaking maybe "like" is challenging it.

[Died By Bear]

You know, as much as I hate to admit it, I say 'you know' way too much.

[cj1976]

I like to make people believe I am in a rap group by adding "You know what I'm saying" to almost every sentence.

[highstreet]

Like way too much, you know what I mean?

[Died By Bear]

[The Cosmic Hum]

[Squire]

A good thing about living here is that (I think) I've broken bad habits like this. The vast majority of the time I'm speaking now is either in class, or with co-workers. When I'm speaking English with co-workers I'm already thinking before I speak to make sure I say what I want in the simplest possible way, and also to make sure I don't say anything negative about Korea. That's pretty frustrating at times, but good too. A sort of linguistic austerity.

[Died By Bear]

[roguefishfood]

I confess... I say "like" too much.

I do think harder about it now that I speak to so many ESL learners though!

[PigeonFart]

Isn't there that steretype about the Southern California Valley girls saying 'like' every 5 seconds? I believe that's where it originated.

I've heard a few (not many in fairness), of our nasal colonial friends take it to the extreme while overhearing conversations in public. It seems to be women who have that tendancy, more so than men. Would that be a fair assertion?

[Zyzyfer]

[tanklor1]

Like, a lot.

[joelove]

This thread idea just came to me the other day after riding a bus twice. Each ride was about 15 minutes. Each time I was next to 2 young people (late teen and early 20s) who were talking the entire time. I'm pretty sure no more than 5 to 10 seconds ever passed without a "like" and I guarantee it was at least one of out ten words used by both pairs. But I hear it all the time, more so by people under 30.

[Dodge7]

"Like" is used so often by people who are unsure of themselves. Confident people will explain what they are thinking and are sure of their feelings instead of likening it to something else.