Every language has its fillers, which are meaningless words used to keep the conversation flowing smoothly. In English, it's usually "um", "er", or "ah". In North America, especially among young people, it's common to use the word "like" as a filler. It began with "Valspeak" which is a stereotypical manner of speaking that originated in Southern California in the 70s. If you're, like, totally hooked on using the word "like", then these instructions will help you speak more professionally and stop being (like, so) annoying.
Steps
- Know how the word "like" is supposed to be used. There are only two correct usages:
- Similarity - "This tastes like chicken."
- Enjoyment - "I like this movie."
- Record yourself to see how often you use the word "like" incorrectly. Once you can pinpoint your most common mistakes, it'll be easier to catch yourself in action and make corrections. In any conversation or when speaking freely for a few minutes, you'll probably notice a few patterns, which are addressed in the following steps.
- Stop using "like" when quoting someone. Whenever you catch yourself using "like" to put words in someone's mouth, replace it with "said". Better yet, come up with a verb that more specifically describes how the person spoke: yelled, whispered, answered, exclaimed, insisted, etc.
- Incorrect: "He was like 'Where are you going?' and she was like 'None of your business!'"
- Correct: "He said 'Where are you going?' and she yelled 'None of your business!"
- Don't use "like" to approximate. When you're giving a quantity that you're not sure of, you might use the word "like" to indicate that you're guessing or approximating. In this case, it can easily be replaced by the following words: about, approximately, or roughly.
- Incorrect: "She's, like, five feet tall."
- Correct: "She's about five feet tall."
- Incorrect: "You'll need, like, three tablespoons of butter."
- Correct: "You'll need roughly three tablespoons of butter."
- Stop using "like" before an adjective. You might also find yourself plugging other fillers such "so" or "really" in between.
- Incorrect: "He was, like, so tall."
- Correct: "He was tall."
- Incorrect: "She's, like, really irritated."
- Correct: "She's irritated."
- Improve your vocabulary. Your speech might feel "naked" without the word "like" to fill in gaps. The best remedy for this is to become more articulate. Whenever a statement feels plain, try to think of ways you can be more specific or descriptive.
- Bad: "He's like 160 lbs."
- Good: "He's about 160 lbs."
- Better: "He weighs 160 lbs and has a stocky build."
- Bad: "She's, like, really happy with her new job."
- Good: "She's happy with her new job."
- Better: "She's more satisfied with her new job than with her last one."
- Quit using the "like" altogether. If you find that you're still having a hard time using "like" correctly, you might want to abandon the word altogether, at least temporarily, just to break the habit. Even though there are ways to use "like" correctly, there are also ways to replace it. You can't use the word incorrectly if you don't use it at all!
- Similarity: Replace "like" with "similar to".
- Enjoyment: Replace "like" with "enjoy" or "savor" or "love".
Tips
- Ask friends, family, and co-workers to let you know whenever you use the word "like" incorrectly. For more encouragement, have them make you put some money in a jar (a quarter, a dollar) every time you say "like".
- If you're trying to learn how to sound like a native English speaker, doing the opposite of these instructions might help, but only in informal situations. Using "like" excessively in the workplace can make you seem unprofessional.
Warnings
Don't replace "like" with another filler like "um".
Sources and Citations
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filler_(linguistics)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valspeak
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