Bonus 64: There’s like, so much to like about “like”

“Like” is a word that’s super flexible and versatile (it can be a verb, a noun, a particle, and more), and each of these functions has its own patterns of use and history that we can trace back, sometimes suprisingly long ago. For example, the version that’s equivalent to “I mean” (as in, “like, you’d need to see it to believe it”) is found among speakers who were born in the UK and New Zealand as early as the mid-1800s, while the only version of “like” that seems to be new in recent decades or originate in North America is the one that introduces quotations, attitudes, and even gestures (“and then I was like…”).

In this bonus episode, your hosts Lauren and Gretchen get enthusiastic about the word “like”! Specifically, we take as our springboard a paper by the linguist Alexandra D'Arcy called “Like and language ideology: Disentangling fact from fiction”.  It turns out there are nine different functions of “like”,  five very old (“I like cheese” and “like an arrow” go back to Old English) and four new…ish (from the 1800s to the surprisingly minor involvement of the Valley Girls). We also talk about why “like” falls prey to the frequency and recency illusions, why linguists get excited about “like” and other function words, and other important dispatches from the world of “like” (apparently people who use “like” are perceived as more attractive? look, like, I’ll take it.).

Listen to the episode about “like” and get access to, like, lots more bonus episodes by supporting Lingthusiasm on Patreon

There are all these little words and phrases that we use all the time - y'know, anyway, okay, right, so, however, I mean, uh, and then… They aren’t strictly necessary, and yet our speech would feel so weird without them. Welcome to the world of discourse markers! 

In this special Lingthusiasm live show, recorded in Montreal at Argo Bookshop, your hosts Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne ensure you can say YES the next some someone says ‘y'know?’ 

We look at how regular words get transformed into discourse markers, why they’re so important for making speech flow, the fancy kinds of discourse markers in writing and historical texts, and just why they get some people wound up. We also discuss why discourse markers make life tricky for subtitlers and computers, but are so necessary in everyday conversation. 

Support Lingthusiasm on Patreon to listen to the liveshow and see a picture from the recording! 

Lingthusiasm Liveshow - Montreal, September 23rd 

We’re excited to announce that we’re having a Lingthusiasm liveshow! 

We haven’t forgotten about the liveshow goal on Patreon, but since Lauren happened to have a conference bringing her to Montreal, where Gretchen lives, we decided we couldn’t miss out on the opportunity to put on a show. Think of it as a practice run for the big version! 

So, like, what’s up with, um, discourse particles, y'know? These seemingly meaningless words can tell us a lot about how language works.

Join Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne for a real-life version of the linguistics podcast listeners call “the right balance between rigour and accessibility… It feels like I’m listening in on a conversation between two of my most interesting friends.” Plus a Q&A for all your burning questions on internet linguistics, linguistics in the public sphere, Australian English, and more.

Free event in Argo Bookshop, Montreal’s oldest English-language bookstore, which happens to have an excellent linguistics section! Snacks by donation. Doors at 8pm, show starts at 8:30. 

Get your free tickets via Eventbrite! 

(If you like Facebook, you can also join/share the Facebook event here.)

We hope you can attend! But we also know that we have listeners from all over the world, so we’re taking questions for the Q&A portion from everyone who supports us on Patreon. If you’re a patron who can make it to the show, we’ll even save you a seat up front! 

We’ll also be recording the show with the help of our friends at The Ling Space so stay tuned wherever you are!  

Lingthusiasm Episode 7: Kids these days aren’t ruining language

There are some pretty funny quotes of historical people complaining about kids back then doing linguistic things that now seem totally unremarkable. So let’s cut to the chase and celebrate linguistic innovation while it’s happening. 

In episode 7 of Lingthusiasm, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch explore how far back we can trace complaints about the language of Kids These Days, why linguistic discrimination is harmful, and why “be like”, hyperbolic “literally”, and other modern innovations are actually signs of something awesome. 

Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice or read the transcript here

Announcements:

We now have a Patreon to keep the podcast sustainable. You can support us there to listen to a bonus episode about swearing and future monthly bonus content, and help decide the topics of future episodes. Even if you’re not sure about pledging, do check out the Patreon goals to see some of our future plans and our video to see a totally realistic and not at all staged cameo from our producer.

Here are the links mentioned in this episode:

• Socrates complaining about writing
• Old-timey peeves in a video by Arika Okrent
  
• Old-timey Latin errors
  
• “They barbarize them both and speak neither good french nor good english” (1440) 
• Resistance to language change is part of the social landscape
  
• Alexandra D’Arcy’s ‘Like’ project home page
• Interview with Alexandra D’Arcy on Lexicon Valley
  
• Like on All Things Linguistic
• Linguists are Hardcore (xkcd)
• If we’re going to be pedantic let’s go all the way
  
• Hyperbolic literally
• Student essays are getting longer 
  
• Writing skills and texting (xkcd)
  
• Bad reporting on internet slang (video)
• Grammaticality judgements and emoji
  
• Texts from my sister and grandfather (Superlinguo)
• Informal texting can be an indicator of strong language skills
  
• The Young Peevers (Allie Severin)
• Linguistic knowledge vs pedantry, a graph 
  
• Rob Drummond’s original graph tweet
  
• Literacy privilege
  

You can listen to this episode via Lingthusiasm.com, Soundcloud, RSS, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also download an mp3 via the Soundcloud page for offline listening.

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You can help keep Lingthusiasm ad-free, get access to bonus content, and more perks by supporting us on Patreon.

Lingthusiasm is on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Tumblr. Email us at contact [at] lingthusiasm [dot] com

Gretchen is on Twitter as @GretchenAMcC and blogs at All Things Linguistic.

Lauren is on Twitter as @superlinguo and blogs at Superlinguo.

Lingthusiasm is created by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. Our producer is Claire Gawne, and our music is ‘Ancient City’ by The Triangles.

This episode of Lingthusiasm is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license (CC 4.0 BY-NC-SA).