So, like, Valspeak, like, WTF is up with that?

[imomus]

So I'm, like, passing people on the street, and, like, catching snatches of their conversation, and this is, like, New York, right, nowhere near the San Fernando Valley, home of, like, Valspeak, and yet these people are all like "Like..." all the time, honest to God there are, like, 20 iterations of the word "like" in, like, one minute of speech? There's also this "high rising terminal" thing? That turns every statement into, like, a question? By means of, like, rising intonation?

But, like, it's mainly, like, the "like" thing that I don't, like, like. I know that it's a, like, powerful meme, used by the, like, articulate and the inarticulate alike. It, like, started in California? I guess? And then, like, got boosted by, like, Frank Zappa's, like, "Valley Girl" single? And then, like it, like, or not, it, like, swamped California then, like, marched over the whole United, like, States?

So now I'm, like, wondering how long it'll be before, like, saturation occurs? Like, what will happen when there are more, like, "likes" in every, like, sentence, than, like, any other word? So, like, people are just going to be like "Like, like, like, I guess, it's like, and she's like, and I'm like, like, like, right?" Right? Like, language won't, like, mean anything any more?

I'm not, like, like that. Like, I tend to use, like, Japanese hesitation phenomena. I'll be like "Ehhhhhhh toooooooooooo..." if I can't, like, think of a, like, word. But I can't, like, help being like "I wonder if this is like some kind of, like, viral infestation, a bit like the kind I was, like, describing in my, like, Wired piece about, like, feral pop music like taking everything over?" Because, like, it's like saying "like" is based on a deep fear of, like, silence, and, like, the word "like" just rushes in like a, like, placeholder, to, like, make sure nobody, like, interrupts you, even if you've got, like, nothing to say?

But, like I say, I'm, like, worried about you guys. Like, how long will it be before this, like, virus takes over completely? Maybe we can, like, get a glimpse of the, like, future of American conversation by, like, using this speech, like, simulator, the, like, Valspeak Translator. So, like, feed a chunk of what I, like, just said through that and I'm like:

"Like, like, wow, what will happen when there are more, like, like, like, wow, "likes" in every, fer shure, like, mostly, sentence, like, wow, than, man, like, man, any other word? So, like, wow, like, like, wow, people are just goin' to be like "Like, oh, baby, like, oh, baby, like, like, I guess, man, it's like, like, wow, and she's like, mostly, and I'm like, oh, baby, like, mostly, like, like, wow, right?" Right? Like, like, language won't, like, like, mostly, mean anythin' any more?"

So I'm like, omigod? You know? Would you guys just, like, shut the fuck up? Cos, like, I'm, like, starting to, like, totally do this thing too? And I don't, like, you know, like it?

Comments

[geeveecatullus.livejournal.com]

I,like, read this, and then I was like, lol, like, you know?

[framework.livejournal.com]

It's not just fuckin' like, you fuckin' knowwhatI'msayin'? This fuckin' happens, youknowwhatI'msayin', with fuckin' lots of other fuckin' words and phrases, youknowhatI'msayin'?

[cap-scaleman.livejournal.com]

This phenomena have some variations in Sweden too. "Fjortislanguage" and "wannabegangstalanguage". It makes tons of people feel ill. Those who DON'T talk like, uh, wait, DON'T talk the same way as those using the dialect.

If it's spreading, is it because it is so.... Stupid?

[silentalarm.livejournal.com]

i never realised how much i don't like the word "like" until this entry. hmmm...

[polocrunch.livejournal.com]

Omigod, like, you, like, totally just, like, ruined my day, man.

[fishwithissues.livejournal.com]

er alright ok so um like maybe it's popular because meaning in language is so damn slippery and rather than injecting a nonsense syllable, "like" owns that slippage by being a word that turns metaphor into simile, declarative statements into comparative statements? in spite of all the baggage of valspeak, maybe it's a mark of relativistic thinking?

[armoire-man.livejournal.com]

One of our friends stopped talking that way after she moved to San Diego, California? And she used to talk like that all the time? So maybe it's, like, done a wave all the way from west to east and bounced off of New York? Because I've heard about three people complain about it and I live in the middle of the U.S.A? So now it's moving back west again?

Shit.

[dzima.livejournal.com]

Like hmm, maybe you'd like a song like this? (http://dzima.stanleylieber.com/music/kyoto/master_of_fashion_goths.mp3)

[piratehead.livejournal.com]

You're, like, so fuckin' middle aged, man.

Closely associated with this generational Tourettes syndrome is what a friend calls "hipster vowel rounding".

[dzima.livejournal.com]

[dzima.livejournal.com]

[tundraboy.livejournal.com]

Argh, now it's going to infest my speech today. Thanks, man!

[samuellsamson.livejournal.com]

My head hurts now.

I actually live in California, but not THAT one, the one in England.

I was talking about that rising terminal thingummy just a couple of days ago. It's taking over here in the UK too - but I'm blaming the influx of Australian soap operas over the last 20 years.

[charleshatcher.livejournal.com]

LOL, girlfriend: take a chill-pill! Will we ever stop using Valspeak? -- Not in a million years and not with a billion beers!

[(Anonymous)]

Good luck. Overliking of that sort has been going on for at least the last 25 years in this country. The rising terminal intonation has been marked as a particularly feminine speech pattern by linguists as well, generally indicating a deferral of authority from speaker to listener; I'd say it has also got a sense of self-questioning, even sarcasm. If it had ever died out it could have been hipster irony. But far's I can see it never left.

SAY WHAAAAA?

[(Anonymous)]

Ha ha you are right about this! I think the like talkers go hand and hand with the it's-cool-to-be-positive(nice)-fuckers. Its good to be nice & positive. BUT there are a lot of elitest people around now that are on a fake mellow journey throwing around like-speak to seem not so harsh man. maybe or maybe not. i also know a few of these people who use like-speak as a filter. they are smart people but talk through air-head-like-speak to protect themselves (out of fear, out of fun, out of coolness). it's all becoming a know nothing say nothing culture. disposable speak to go along with our disposable pop music. ...

like LOL...

[orlog.livejournal.com]

I had such a great laugh from this! My roomate and I were talking about the same thing the other day. Every morning on the subway to work there are these three women and a gay guy that talk it up loudly with ValSpeak. It has to be one of the more annoying things of my daily commute.

[aberrantangels]

Like, did you know sclerotic_rings has his own take on this, like, little problem?

Like, you know how you have a slight speech impediment? Like, where your mother's favorite party snack was "Lead-based paint chips" and her addiction left you unable to speak a sentence without it sounding like it ends with a question mark? And where you sound like a Valley Girl with a mouthful of dog penises?

[mistresshellena.livejournal.com]

I blame MTV. Well, TV in general. Apparently my generic "educated, region-free" accent orignated somewhere in Ohio when the networks decided that newscasters should all speak with this particular accent. Affected my whole generation. Now, I think that most of the generations coming up behind me are watching alot of TV that originates out of California and it has started to seep into everyone's language patterns, even if we haven't always spoken that way.

I hate that question sounding thing at the end of every sentence.

I prefer "like" to "um" imagine if all those people saying "like" were saying "um" instead. Those words we use because we don't want to give up the speech spotlight by having just a pause in the racket of our own voices.

[pintele.livejournal.com]

Reading this gave me a headache, but sadly less of one than I'm used to from hearing this on a daily basis. I don't know when it happened, but I've become painfully aware of the overusage of 'like' in conversation - probably because I am surrounded by it at uni - and have, I think, done a reasonably good job at making sure I get out of the habit myself. The fact is that I enjoy voices and conversation and words too much, and hearing 'like' infiltrate all that makes it ugly, and I don't think it should be ugly. Plus, it makes even the smartest people sound stupid, and that's just, like, totally ugh.

[jean-djinni.livejournal.com]

fer shur.

[freesurfboards.livejournal.com]

Ha ha ha, somebody said "like" about twenty times today, and it wasn't me.

Seriously though, why is "ehto" a more acceptable pause in between? I prefer just silence. And on top of that - I thought you were all about community, shouldn't you give in to the group and start saying like all the time?

4 words

[shoukinkasegi.livejournal.com]

You. Know. Like. Right. (high rising terminal on "right").

[trini-naenae.livejournal.com]

That was incredibly funny. And living in California, I hear it quite a bit. Sometimes it creeps into my speech and frightens me. I'm mostly suprised it's common in New York. Do they also say "Hecka/Hella tight/cool/bada$$/insert another word for cool here, and other phrases overused in Cali? Because, seriously, I will be most entertained to hear that California lingo has taken over New York. I mean, like, how lame.

[sparkligbeatnic.livejournal.com]

Like is a form of love. This virulent meme also has a function: it's offsetting all the "fucking skulls".