[Magdalen] Like I Was Puzzled.

[Grace Cangialosi]

I don't know place or time, but I do know that the word "coke" was used generally for any soft drink for awhile, possibly because it was the first commercial one? I don't know. Sort of like Kleenex or Xerox.

> On Dec 4, 2014, at 2:27 PM, Marion Thompson <marionwhitevale at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Sorry.  Ny-ther and Eye-ther are what I say -- and soft drink for soda or pop.
> 
> Marion, a pigrim
>> On 12/4/2014 9:22 AM, Kate Conant 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.
>