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Comet-like fashionable expressions | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| morprussell Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7163 days ago 272 posts - 285 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 9 of 28 26 July 2005 at 12:38pm | IP Logged | |||||
"Like" is more common among girls, but guys certainly over use it as well. I was once guilty of this. My trip to Spain cured me of saying "like" too much. I was meeting with locals to do language exchanges, and I made sure to speak as properly as I could. I didn't want to confuse them. After a few months in Spain I took a trip to Lausanne, Switzerland to visit a friend. She kept laughing at me because I was speaking so properly. Maybe to fit in you need to use a well regulated amount of "likes". 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Kyle Groupie United States Joined 7075 days ago 49 posts - 49 votes | Message 10 of 28 26 July 2005 at 10:47pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Agreed. The gross overuse of like is girlish... but the word itself is a very common filler word for guys and girls.
It's actually really useful because it can show a pause (similar to "um") or it can mean 'around,' or 'similar to.'(I ate like 8 tacos.) In the Northeastern US, there are many of these comet-like fashionable expressions people use for like a month or so, and then drop them, modify them, or replace them. I couldn't even begin to list them all. These are usually only limited to teenagers and kids though. I'll post some if I can think of any good ones. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Sir Nigel Senior Member United States Joined 7104 days ago 1126 posts - 1102 votes 2 sounds | Message 11 of 28 26 July 2005 at 11:49pm | IP Logged | |||||
Words, like um, er, uh, and so forth. "Like" when used excessively is also one. They're words we use when we forget what to say or need extra time to think. Edited by Sir Nigel on 26 July 2005 at 11:50pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Giordano Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 7174 days ago 213 posts - 218 votes 3 sounds Speaks: English*, Italian*, French Studies: Cantonese, Greek | Message 12 of 28 28 July 2005 at 12:38pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Administrator, I know where the first two of your examples come from... they are (queue dramatic horror music) anglicisms!
Ce n'est pas ma tasse de thé "It's not my cup of tea"- a very common and established expression Ca m'interpelle quelque part "It moves me", "It was a moving experience", "I was moved"- all common in English As for the use of "like", it's very common for guys and girls. Even adults are starting to use it more. I would like to point out that the first use of "like" in the sense I am talking about was by girls. There is a theory that women are always first to accept and use new forms and idioms in language, and it then spreads to men, whose choice of words and usage tends to be more conservative. I read an article a while back (one which I can't find anymore) about how the major American sitcom Friends had influenced language. The word "so", as in "So I went shopping...", "So what did you do today?", "So, I go to park my car when...", "So I heard about what happened", etc.. was only beginning to be used in that sense. The female characters on Friends began using it. It spread to the larger female population. For a short while it was considered "feminine", until men started using it too. Now, it is a commonly used form for either sex. It is not surprizing then that "like", used as in "It was like the worst day of my life", "I woke up at like 5 am!", "He walked like right up to her!" (that is, to mean "about", "almost", "around", "actually", etc..), has spread to males. It has also spread from teenagers to adults, just like "cool" ('that's cool', 'be cool'), "chill" ('Just chill', 'Chill out'), "sucks" ('that sucks!'). Maybe then, it is not only females but also teenagers who drive linguistic evolution. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| jradetzky Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom geocities.com/jradet Joined 7207 days ago 521 posts - 485 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2, GermanB1 | Message 13 of 28 28 July 2005 at 2:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Thanks God that I have never ever watched that "Friends" sitcom you mention. Anyway, I promise never to overuse the word "like" again. I don't want to sound girlish anymore. Edited by jradetzky on 28 July 2005 at 2:14pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Nephilim Diglot Senior Member Poland Joined 7145 days ago 363 posts - 368 votes Speaks: English*, Polish | Message 14 of 28 28 July 2005 at 3:03pm | IP Logged | |||||
Interesting expression. I believe the linguistic term is 'pause fillers' but I like your expression better. :-) Edited by Nephilim on 31 July 2005 at 4:39am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Giordano Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 7174 days ago 213 posts - 218 votes 3 sounds Speaks: English*, Italian*, French Studies: Cantonese, Greek | Message 15 of 28 30 July 2005 at 4:54pm | IP Logged | |||||
You've misunderstood. The point is that it started off commonly used by women, but has quickly become normal in all cirumstances, used by all people. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| administrator Hexaglot Forum Admin Switzerland FXcuisine.com Joined 7376 days ago 3094 posts - 2987 votes 12 sounds Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian Personal Language Map | Message 16 of 28 08 August 2005 at 10:34am | IP Logged | |||||
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There is a new expression in France now, popping up all over the place on TV shows. Instead of saying that you have been impressed by something, you say Ca m'a bluffé! or Il m'a complètement bluffé! for added emphasis. Litterally this would be It has bluffed me, I am not sure how the English word came to be used like this.
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