[Magdalen] Like I Was Puzzled.

[Jay Weigel]

Some of those are regional and you might as well get over them, because
they won't go away. I do have a problem with "impact" for "affect", though,
and I don't like "gift" being used as a verb.

On Thu, Dec 4, 2014 at 9:22 AM, Kate Conant <kate.conant at gmail.com> wrote:

> ​What irks me:
>
> People saying "soda" for "pop", "issue" for "problems", "impact" for
> "affect (v)" or "effect (n)", "nY-ther" for "neither", "Y-ther" for
> "either",  "Ah" for "I", 20  items "or less" for "or fewer" and "behavioral
> health" for "brain disorder".
>
>
> ​
>
> "What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, love mercy, and walk
> humbly with your God?"
> Micah 6:8
>
> On Thu, Dec 4, 2014 at 7:22 AM, Sally Davies <sally.davies at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Oh my gosh, Grace. That reminds me of a classmate in our Psych Masters
> > group who made up an all-purpose therapy response. Went something like:
> >
> > So, as I understand you there, you're saying that in some way, at some
> > level, you feel.....
> >
> > AARGH!! Thank goodness for narrative therapy and goodbye to All That.
> >
> > I quite like the use of "go" for "say" or "said". As a habit  it can be
> > most annoying, but I enjoy the way it captures the game-like aspects of
> > verbal communication. I think of it as "having a go" (as in a board game)
> > or "fair go" as the Australians say.
> >
> > Sally
> >
> > On Thursday, 4 December 2014, Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > > LOL, Sally!
> > >
> > > What I find somewhat puzzling is the way it gets used to describe a
> > > conversation. I mean, I kind of get its use to place the speaker
> > somewhere,
> > > as in "I was, like, going to the store."
> > >
> > > But I don't get
> > > "Well, I was like, 'How was your date last night?' And she was like,
> > 'He's
> > > cute, but really boring," and I was like...    Well you get it.
> > >
> > > The other usage that intrigues me is the use of "go" instead of "say."
> > >
> > > "So I go 'Did you watch the game?' and he goes, 'No, I had to go
> shopping
> > > with my dad.' and I go....
> > >
> > > Then there's beginning every question and response with "so."  I hear
> > that
> > > all the time in NPR interviews.
> > >
> > > Grace, sometime curmudgeon when it comes to language, grammar and
> > > punctuation
> > >
> > > > On Dec 3, 2014, at 3:56 PM, Sally Davies <sally.davies at gmail.com
> > > <javascript:;>> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Pervasive here, too. This habit started, I guess, with kids and
> > teenagers
> > > > but has spread to older generations and from wherever it originated
> > > > (California? London?) to a wide variety of English speaking contexts.
> > > >
> > > > The usual form here is "I was like...".
> > > >
> > > > I think that people have taken to this expression because it is
> > somewhat
> > > > distancing and seems not to commit one to a truth position. I was
> "like
> > > > that" - but I wasn't "that".  Maybe it's too much of a stretch to
> > > conclude
> > > > something about the culture in which such tentative self-positioning
> > > seems
> > > > to thrive...?
> > > >
> > > > "After that, I replied...", or "and then, I did X"  sounds not only
> > more
> > > > formal but more documentary! The "I was like" OTOH, avoids the bother
> > of
> > > > finding the right verb. It sets up a sentence (if one could call it
> > that)
> > > > which could go anywhere. I could be, like, saying something, or it's
> > > like I
> > > > could have done something, or maybe I could even be, like so wasted I
> > > can't
> > > > actually recall what I was like.
> > > >
> > > > And sad/denialist as it may be, when you hang around with kids enough
> > of
> > > > the time, you do, like, start borrowing their expressions in
> > > self-defence...
> > > >
> > > > Language evolves...or maybe unravels...
> > > >
> > > > Sally D
> > > >
> > > > On Wednesday, 3 December 2014, Cantor03--- via Magdalen <
> > > > magdalen at herberthouse.org <javascript:;>> wrote:
> > > >
> > > >>
> > > >> I've had several people visiting my home recently whose every other
> > > >> sentence
> > > >> begins with "Like I was...." of some such.  These were not
> teenagers,
> > > but
> > > >> adults in their 40's and 50's.
> > > >>
> > > >> I've been aware of this rage for describing usually something in the
> > > past
> > > >> with descriptions beginning with "Like", but I wasn't aware such
> > usage
> > > >> has crept so far into the general USA population.  I have no clue
> > about
> > > >> this
> > > >> phenomenon in other English speaking areas of the world.
> > > >>
> > > >> This "like" business has become chronic and pervasive in the USA,
> and
> > > >> my question is about whether this is a fad, or marks  a chronic
> change
> > > >> in spoken English.  If it is long term, it demonstrates a
> > > trivialization
> > > >> of
> > > >> the language IMHO.
> > > >>
> > > >> Anyone have any thoughts about this "like" usage and predictions
> > about
> > > >> its continued usage?
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >> David S.
> > > >>
> > >
> >
>