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Bonus 64: There's like, so much to like about "like"
🕑 Added 2022-06-03 00:04:42 +0000 UTC"Like" is a word that's super flexible and versatile (it can be a verb, a noun, a particle, and more), and each of these functions has its own patterns of use and history that we can trace back, sometimes surprisingly long ago. For example, the version that's equivalent to "I mean" (as in, "like, you'd need to see it to believe it") is found among speakers who were born in the UK and New Zealand as early as the mid-1800s, while the only version of "like" that seems to be new in recent decades or originate in North America is the one that introduces quotations, attitudes, and even gestures ("and then I was like...").
In this bonus episode, your hosts Lauren and Gretchen get enthusiastic about the word "like"! Specifically, we take as our springboard a paper by the linguist Alexandra D'Arcy called "Like and language ideology: Disentangling fact from fiction". It turns out there are nine different functions of "like", five very old ("I like cheese" and "like an arrow" go back to Old English) and four new...ish (from the 1800s to the surprisingly minor involvement of the Valley Girls). We also talk about why "like" falls prey to the frequency and recency illusions, why linguists get excited about "like" and other function words, and other important dispatches from the world of "like" (apparently people who use "like" are perceived as more attractive? look, like, I'll take it.).
Here are the links mentioned in this episode:
- Like and language ideology: Disentangling fact from fiction by Alexandra D'Arcy
- Like: Syntax and Development but Alexandra D'Arcy
- Discourse-Pragmatic Variation in Context: Eight hundred years of LIKE by Alexandra D'Arcy
- Wikipedia entry for the frequency illusion
- Language Log post 'Just between Dr Language and I' about the frequency and recency illusion
- Etymonline entry for 'Like'
- xkcd 'Quotative Like'
- ExplainXkcd entry for 'Quotative Like'
You can listen to this episode on this page, via the Patreon RSS or download the mp3. A transcript of this episode is available as a Google Doc. Lingthusiasm is also on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Email us at contact [at] lingthusiasm [dot] com or chat to us on the Patreon page. Gretchen is on Twitter as @GretchenAMcC and blogs at All Things Linguistic. Lauren is on Twitter as @superlinguo and blogs at Superlinguo.
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Lingthusiasm is created by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. Our senior producer is Claire Gawne, our production editor is Sarah Dopierala, our production assistant is Martha Tsutsui Billins, and our production manager is Liz McCullough. Our music is ‘Ancient City’ by The Triangles.
