[Magdalen] Like I Was Puzzled.

[Grace Cangialosi]

No, they say pop in parts of WV, as well.

> On Dec 4, 2014, at 9:52 AM, "Charles Wohlers" <charles.wohlers at verizon.net> wrote:
> 
> "Soda" vs. "Pop" is a standard regional thing. It's "pop" in the Midwest, but "soda" in the northeast and California. In Boston (always different) it's "tonic".
> 
> I guess you'll just have to move back to Michigan if you want folks to say "pop".
> 
> http://www.popvssoda.com
> 
> And -
> 
> You say either and I say either,
> You say neither and I say neither
> Either, either Neither, neither
> Let's call the whole thing off.
> 
> You like potato and I like potahto
> You like tomato and I like tomahto
> Potato, potahto, Tomato, tomahto.
> Let's call the whole thing off
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnf5HnW8C4E
> (Is that Lester Young on tenor?)
> 
> Chad Wohlers
> Woodbury, VT USA
> chadwohl at satucket.com
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Kate Conant
> Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2014 9:22 AM
> To: magdalen at herberthouse.org
> Subject: Re: [Magdalen] Like I Was Puzzled.
> 
> ​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.
>> > >>
>> >
>