Why do teens say "like" all of the time?
 

My kids are 9 and 13 and try as hard as I might, I keep hearing them say "like" all of the time when they're talking to their friends. Why do "tweens and teens" use the word "like" for every other word? It's like driving me out of my mind and I like am trying to figure it out!

Because, like every generation, they have found something to drive their parents (and other adults) nuts.

Like what do Youuuuuu mean daddyO......

I heard a linquist discuss this a while back. Seems the use of "like" is filling a unique niche in our language:
http://www.jsonline.com/enter/gen/sep02/71334.asp?format=print

Lee,

You're like the greatest...

It's like.... ughhh, how we used to like...... say ughhhh, like lighten up man! Like chill..... ughhhhh.... what was ..... like the question again? Are we being.... like graded... like on the curve on this?


Wow, man like if I had like known that, I like would have like studied man.....

Maybe we could do a poll/survey on g9girl.com.

Omigod, like, totally!

I'm just glad that Beavis & Butthead laugh didn't last long. That really bugged me... along with "WHATEVER!"

And they were all, like talking about old stuff and it was like sooooooooo ugh. like really!
I think it was in 'hitchikers guide' that it was propositioned that humans need to keep their mouths moving in order to stay alive. Could be a little truth in that.

YES! The worst part about B&BH was that EVERY teenage boy could mimic them to perfection - I think they unknowingly spawned a global plague of clones.........corholio was kinda funny though.

Uhh hhu hhhu - you said long.......

ya know
 

Another highly irritating phrase that is tacked onto the end of many sentences is "ya know"...seems to be mainly the uneducated though,ya know.:confused:

I once read that you could take the most articulate, eloquent intelligent statement, phrase or sentence and by simply adding the words "and stuff" to the end of it, sound like a moron - it's true :D

The use of the word "like" as discussed above (great article, by the way, but most young people could have probably already told you that), although I do hate it when people use it instead of "says" - "she was like, yeah let's go!". I thought this was generally something only used by people younger than me (I'm 30), but I was watching an old documentary from the 60's, and noticed one person use "like" instead of "says" several times! Guess it's nothing new.

My 6 yr old says it - but I think he is searching for the right word to use.

Had an ex-girl friend who was a doctor - she said it all the time. Drove me nuts, broke up. I couldve been a stay home Dad if I was more tolerant!

I hear many girls in my grade say it a lot if they are excited about something. My English teacher last year cracked down on the "likes" and said that saying "like" all of the time originated from California Valley Girls (I'm guessing in SoCal) some time around the 60's. I haven't heard many guys say "like" all of the time. Mainly it's just the girls from my observations.

Or how about this. Your talking to a guy and he agrees with what your saying, but instead of saying he agrees he says, "huh" and shakes his head yes. Slap, slap http://www.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/paddel.gif huh

Maybe he means "uhuh" which really means "yes"?

Haven't any of you Geezers (or youngins) heard the song 'Valley Girl' by Moon Zappa (Frank Zappas daughter)? Came out in the mid 80s.

"Like totally"

Completely a 1970s/1980s valley girl term (er...Simi valley if my california geography is serving me right...)

A great sci-fi comedy re: valley girls: "Night of the Comet".