I, LIKE, SERIOUSLY HAVE A PROBLEM
My doting father has gently, and at times not so gently, pointed out (on a number of occasions), my tendency to frequently use the word ‘like’ when I am speaking. Naturally, I dismissed his comments, putting it simply down to the fact that 1. He’s my dad, and therefore policer of any non-standard form of language, and 2. All 20 somethings these days are guilty of this, right?
I didn’t care, I don’t even say it that much. I thought to myself; It’s cant be that bad.
A few months after my latest grilling and I am in the midst of a third-year Uni project. It involves telling a story to a small group of course friends, about something that has happened in my life that has shaped who I am as a person. The module is called Creative Writing and the Self and although interesting and not as blasé as it sounds, if i’m honest, there are some aspects I am sceptical of. However, I recited my story nonetheless. Although the group I was speaking in front of couldn’t have been better, If I had the choice, I definitely would not have chosen to speak about myself in front of a group of mates and with the whole thing being filmed by a not so subtle video camera propped not so subtly on a tripod in front of my face. To be fair, I can’t say anyone else enjoyed the experience either.
Anyway, back to the point; It was only when I was painstakingly transcribing the whole ordeal that it really occurred to me.. what the HELL. The amount of times I said the word ‘like’ during my 10 minute story was a JOKE. I noticed, okay, that my usage of the word increased as I moved onto the nitty gritty part of the story, the part where I was least at ease, but no human should produce the word ‘like’ as much as I do.
This revelation has got me thinking, when did this start? I can’t be the only one who has a serious problem here. I can’t work out if the uncomfortable nature of the story telling meant that I used the word as a barrier to put between myself and the story or whether I genuinely speak like Vicky Pollard. Having stumbled by accident upon my extreme usage of the word, I have now vowed to make an active effort to eliminate the word from my vocab when it is not needed or wanted.
I should have just like listened to my dad.