>>>>>>>>>>>Thought of you the other day when I heard the following on the radio: "It's about one man's escape from Laos during Vietnam."
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>Um... can't see how it relates to me, except the grammar thingy. Though, usage of "Vietnam" as a temporal adverb used to be quite common. We quite commonly say "during Sloba" - so I probably would not even notice anything wrong in that sentence.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Yeah, it was the grammar. I figured you'd go to town on that one.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>I am sometimes pedantic about language -- well, not as pedantic as SOME here <g> -- and read something on the train this morning that may have changed my mind. It was the "On Language" column in the NY Times Sunday Magazine and was written by a guest columnist (William Safire is on vacation). It was about the new usage of the word "like," which will be familiar to most of us who spend any amount of time around teenagers. "I was like, We don't want to get there that early, and she was like, But if we aren't they'll start without us, and I was like...." I razz Emily constantly about this one and have been trying to break her of it. The columnist's position, though, was that it really isn't that bad, just a typical permutation of the always-changing English language. She added that most of those who use "like" in this way -- who are not all teenagers, she asserts -- know the difference between proper written language and casual spoken language. She said "like" has not yet
>>made
>>>>>>>>significant inroads into written English.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Do you have any, like, thoughts on this issue? <g>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Different use of "like" there. That's the hippy usage from the 60s :-)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Now you know me to be a language pedant but I actually like this concise use of English.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>"And I was like ... {uh-ugh}" (or whatever - original sense - grunt or gesture. This saves so much speech, such as "I looked at him in an incredulous manner" (stunted). Now if in Britain we hold the Royal Family to be the guardians of "the Queen's English" then by the time Bill comes to the throne it'll be nowt like Liz's. There were a number of interviews with the "heir and a spare" recently, around the crap Princess Diana memorial concert. They use many of the "hip" expressions all the time. Princess Anne's daughter, Tara, the show-jumper uses "and I was like ..." all the time. I've heard people complaining about this expression, and I was like "get with it, daddyo! {g}", then caught them out using it themselves very soon after, quite naturally and un-self-consciously.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Not so long ago the expression "and he went, 'Hello'" was introduced, instead of "he said". How, exactly when, or why I don't know. But it entered the lingo without any protest. This is just an extention of that IMHO.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Like it or not, this has crept into every-day usage and is here to stay
>>>>>>
>>>>>>And like it or not, it's still a slovenly mode of speach for those too lazy to bother with learning to speak properly.
>>>>>
>>>>>Learning to speak English properly? But this IS English.
>>>>>I shouldn't doubt (note the correct use of the 1st P singular form - very rarely used now) that you use expressions like: "I d'know" (dunno), "you got here quicker than anyone else", "If I knew you were coming I'd've baked a cake", "You walk faster than me", "If you were any good you wouldn't complain", et al, et al, but wouldn't condemn yourself for not speaking English properly.
>>>>
>>>>I might be accused of the first and last ones, but I sincerely hope I don't find myself saying any of the others. I suppose it's a personal bias, but I see a big difference between eliding a syllable and actually using words in a context that has nothing to do with their meanings. "Goes" and "Went" don't mean respectively "says" and "said", and "like" doesn't mean
>>>>most of the various and sundry meanings that people seem to want to attributed to it. I also should point out that using 'like' three or four times in every sentence does nothing to make the language more concise.
>>>
>>>Maybe not you, but I'd wager a good deal of readers here today would speak these words, some not even know why they are wrong. Now you wouldn't necessarily pick them up for the bad grammar, etc., but in say Victorain times maybe you would.
>>>
>>>>
>>>>Like, I like think I like know what like bugs me, and like this is like one of those things, y'know?
>>>
>>>The example you've just cited is annoying, I'll agree, with totally meaningless and unnecessary interjections. But that's the "dumb chick" use of "like" as opposed to what I think that Mike was on about: the use of "like" to express a state of mind or what someone said.
>>
>>This is junk I hear all around me every day, not just from a few 'dumb chicks'. Regardless though, isn't this just as much an evolution of the language as the other? If you accept that language evolution by people who haven't mastered the basics of grammar is ok, then don't you pretty much have to accept this babble as just as viable.
>
>I agree, as I said, useless interjections, as opposed to the other use: concise and to the point. I'm just as miffed by politicians who use "er" or "ah" all the time, staccato at the start of many words, such as:
>
>"This is .. er-what we've been .. er-saying for ... er-quite some time, that the ... er-cause of this er-calamity .."
>
>That does my cake in!
>>
>>>
>>>"She said to me, 'My boyfriend's stolen money from me, got me pregnant, cheated on me with my best friend and now he's dumped me', and I was like - LOSER!"
>>>
>>>See this is like a word picture that tells a great number of words. She didn't necessarily SAY that hateful thing to the other girl, but it shows her lack of sympathy, annoyance at the other girl's stupidity, etc.
>>
>>I don't know. I guess I'm more comfortable with "She said to me, 'My boyfriend's stolen money from me, got me pregnant, cheated on me with my best friend and now he's dumped me'. What a LOSER!"
>
>But that says what she thinks now, or is putting forward for debate. The other is what she thought/said/exp[erienced back then, at the time.
>
>>Although, I have to admit that "What a" in place of "He is a" was probably not all that acceptable at some time in the past.
>
>Nah,. I guess you're alright there. After all, the French would say "Quel perdant!" or some such.
>
>I've just written a song that actually uses "I'm like 'wow'" in it - so I approve. :-) And I had to debate with myself whether it should go in or not. Having decided that I use the expression myself I figured I was not being pretentious.
>
>BTW try and monitor yourself and see if you actually say it yourself, without realising. You may be surprised.
>
>...

A while back, I was talking to a friend at work, and we were talking about words. I was protesting people who say "You betcha!" as something I hated fervently. He accused me of having used that expression myself from time to time, and I all but demanded satisfaction. As I told him, never, ever, ever in my life have I used that foul expression. Finally, he agreed that maybe he'd been thinking of someone else, and asked if I wanted to go to lunch now.

I, of course replied, "You betcha!". He was on the floor.