So I’m like, are you serious?

There’s a little word that gets overused in some circles, and just hearing it can drive me a bit over the edge. Like, you know what I mean? You know, like, really? It’s been around, like, for centuries, as a verb (“I like you guys”) and a preposition (“just like that”), among many other uses, and more recently, as an interjection (“like, that was so cool!” or “It was, like, all I could handle!”). It seems this word gets (over)used, like, more than any other word in some conversations. My granddaughters, for example, can barely say a complete sentence without, like, interjecting this word.

So, like, I can’t help but wonder, who was the first person who, like, used this word in nearly every sentence? And, like, when they, like, write a paper for school, do they, like, interject ‘like’ into their sentences? Like, you know, like I just did?

Are students today able to write assignments without inserting that word, such as I just did in this sentence? Or is it so, like, ingrained in their speaking that it, like, comes through in their writing, as well?

I would like to know when and how this happened. I certainly did not grow up saying the word “like” in the middle of every sentence. I can guarantee it was not my generation that started this crazy, habitual interjection of the word “like.” I have become guilty of counting how many times the word “like” pops into sentences that don’t need it, to the point that it becomes all I hear. They get done talking and I realize I have no idea what they said, other than I know they used the word “like” 30 times! Using the word too often can distract the listener from the intended message.

One college professor suggests “like” is the new “um.” I guess there may be some validity to that.

Traditionally, the word “like” is used as a verb and to make a comparison. We can say, “I like that dog” or “he ran like the wind,” and we will not be criticized. The problem is when we start to use the word as a filler. Perhaps it is interjected when we are trying to say something that we’re not quite sure about. We use it, like, simply to fill gaps in a conversation. And it isn’t, like, totally bad. (Uh-oh... there’s another word that I hear a lot... like, TOTALLY!)

I am just hoping that young people, including my college granddaughters, possess the ability to express themselves clearly in professional settings and writings. I have confidence that they do. No one wants lines of, like, communication to be broken because of, like, their excessive use of a specific word.

So, this week, just for fun... listen to your kids or grandkids, or people shopping for groceries, or conversations at ballgames. Do you, like, hear the word “like” used frequently, where it’s, like, not necessary? Do you, like, catch yourself even saying it a lot? I’ll be interested to, like, hear from you!