Transcript Like - WSU 2012-2013

Like, I’mlike gonna like
learn how to like talk.
From A Grammar Book for You and Me
by C. Edward Good
Pair Share
 Turn
to a neighbor, and make a list of all
the ways we use “like” in our everyday
communication.
 Like, what parts of speech can “like”
function as?
 GO! You have 3 minutes to talk.
Taylor Mali: “Like Lilly Like Wilson”
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tshNfY
WPlDg
Tobelike
 “tobelike”
(to be like): new verb devised
by young people—but used by everyone—
that substitutes for “thought”
of: I thought, “Man, that exam
sucked.”
 Instead
say/hear: I was like, “Man, that exam
sucked.”
 We
Conjugation of tobelike
 Present
 Past
tense: I’mlike (I’m like)
tense: Iwaslike (I was like)
 Future
tense: I’llbelike (I’ll be like)
The meaning isn’t totally lost, right?
Usually people use tobelike to introduce something they
said or thought.
I’m like, “Hello!?! Could you park any closer to my car?!
Idiot.”
I was like, “What a moron—talking on his cell phone,
picking his nose, and driving at the same time.”
I’ll be like, “Whatever, skeezeball. What goes around
comes around.”
But …

Our meaning isn’t always so clear, when tobelike
and like begin to pervade our speech.

Consider the following conversation:





Bob:
Sue:
Bob:
Sue:
I’mlike up to here.
Like yeah.
Like yesterday waslike, Ugh!
I’mlike, oh well, you know.
It might be difficult to understand what Bob and
Sue are talking about without some non-verbal
cues (hand gestures, facial expressions)
If that’s how we talk, what happens
to our writing?
 According


to C. Edward Good …
“If people talk this way, quite likely they will
find writing even more difficult.”
“People with the like habit overuse the verb to
be in their writing. They simply cannot write a
sentence without saying ‘something is this’ or
‘something was that.’”
Side note:


To be is not a strong verb. It’s boring; it makes your
writing boring. Try to avoid it when possible, and instead
use verbs that actually depict your meaning.
Instead of:




There are only a few students who applied for scholarships.
The committee was unanimous in selecting the finalists.
The teacher was hesitant.
Try these:



Only a few students applied for scholarships.
The committee unanimously selected the finalists.
The teacher hesitated.
So, how is like supposed to
be used??!?!?!
Like as a Verb
I
like KFC’s buttermilk biscuits.
 My
 My
brother likes Shooter Jennings.
cat Sal likes to jump on countertops,
and I like to spray her with water when
she does this.
Like as Preposition = “similar to”
Hint: it hooks nouns to sentences and shows
similarity.


She runs like the wind.
He was like a brother to me.
But look out!

According to Good, “Virtually everyone addicted to like
uses it to show not what something is like but what
something actually is. They use it to show identity (is),
not similarity (like).
 He’s like tall.
Huh?
Like as a Noun
I
have many likes and dislikes.
 One of my likes is walking in the rain.
Like as an Adjective = “similar”
 She
has mastered lacrosse, field hockey,
and like sports.
Like as a Conjunction

Hint:


It means “in the same way as” or “as if”
It connects independent clauses

Many shoppers study the food ads like brokers
study market reports.

It looks like it will rain.

I need a new car like I need a hole in the head.
Here’s a thought to brighten your
day …
 Since
the 1980s, be like is also a juvenile
colloquialism equivalent to said in relating
a conversation—e.g. “And I was like, ‘Yes,
I do.’ But he was like, ‘No you don’t.’ And
so I was like, ‘If you’re just going to
contradict me, then …’” In teenagers, this
usage is all but ubiquitous. In adults, it
shows arrested development.
-Garner Oxford p. 212
Taylor Mali: “Like, you know?”
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCNIBV
87wV4&feature=related