#english linguistics
Everyone has that one friend who punctuates every sentence with that one phrase, be it “you know,” “okay,” or “totally.” “Like,” one of the most common American filler words, is another symptom of our apology epidemic (What, did we all become Canadian or something? At least we haven’t adopted ‘eh’ yet) Why do us young folk, girls especially, adopt the filler word that makes us sound so, like, dumb?
A lot of attention has surfaced recently on female’s overuse of the word ‘sorry.’ It signifies our tendency, as a females in the workplace and in relationships, to apologize and blame ourselves for simple miscommunications or mistakes. Allegedly, men in similar situations blame coincidence, other people, or their surroundings for problems that women would assume blame for. 'Like’ has a similar use.
I can distinctly remember when I picked up the word, because it was on purpose. I was sort of the Hermione Granger of my elementary school, and my unabashed know-it-allness lasted through third or fourth grade. It was somewhere in those two years, though, that I realized raising my hand for every question wasn’t the easiest or quickest way to make friends or impress people, and I started dumbing myself down.
A teacher called on me, and I started to answer, but realized midway that I sounded like the obnoxious nerd that I was/am. “…like, 92?” I finished, with the upward, questioning swing at the end of a statement I knew was correct. And there it all began: my plunge into what quickly became one of my biggest vices.
Sweeping, dramatic statements about my childhood identity crises aside, the ‘like’ epidemic is another example of girls increasingly afraid to overstep, speak too loudly, or demand too much attention. Even now, as a teenager with strong opinions and a blog to match, even, I find myself tripping over words like ‘like’ or ‘you know’ for fear of coming off too bullheaded in discussions. As someone who puts a lot of effort into both becoming smarter and (to be frank) coming across as smarter than I actually am, why have I, along with millions of others, chosen to sound like such a valley girl?
