Friday, November 25, 2011

Life As an English Major: LIKE? What's Wrong With You?

A dialogue in The Glee Project:

Emily: The only thing, though, is like, sometimes you have to be like, be careful (of) what you say,because you like, you might have like, offended Brooke when you say something.
Ellis: What did I say?
Lindsay: You, like, you kinda raise your hand, and you were, like asking for a step, you were, like, "Is that right?"  And she was like "Yeah, you did right." And you were just like, "I just don't wanna look like a dumbasss." (The Glee Project, episode 2, 2011)



You don't have to be an English Major to detect what's wrong with those sentences. Yeah, like, thank you. It's, like, the overusing of the word 'like' in like, almost every part of their conversation. It's how people talk nowadays. So, what's wrong with it? Is it grammatically correct?

Well, 'like' can be used in many range of uses, from conjunction to particles. To explain all these uses would need a special entry, so better look at here.

Though, in some cases, it's annoying and rather almost sad to hear the overusage of this word. For English stickler like me, you can't help it but correcting their sentences.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who's been bothered by these phenomenon, Oprah feels the same. I've watched a show where she, like sarcastically commented on a guest's statement who goes like this:

Guest: I dun know, like, I hate to say it, but like, it's his job, so, like, he has to know what I ordered. When I like, get something else, and if it's like, not good, then I'll complaint. 


Why do you talk like that, BITCH?!!

Don't you think it would be easier if you just say it like this:


Guest: I don't know. I hate to say it, but it's his job. So, he has to know what I ordered. When I get something else, and if it's not good, then I'll complaint. (?)


English is easy, don't complicate it. B'sides, for me, those who talks like this resembles their weakness in conveying message, aren't stable in making decision, and forgive my word, dumb. That's why Paris Hilton and  Nicole Richie talk that way.



That's all from a blabbering student, TQ.
=)

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yg ensem dan cantik....?