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Alex Ortiz

New York University

03.02.15

So, Like, do I, Like, Sound Uneducated?

Most people of Generation Y have heard their parents, grandparents, or some

other authority figure scold or tease them for their “overuse” of the word “like.” An

interjection that was once a characteristic of what is famously referred to as “valley

speak,” has become a part of casual conversation for people across different ages, with

different backgrounds. In pop culture, it has had its place in movies like “Valley Girl,”

“Clueless,” “Legally Blonde,” and “Mean Girls.” In the article, “The, Like, Downfall of the

English Language” Gus Andrews points out that “The beatniks were the first group to be

tarred with the ‘like’ brush…”(Andrews 2003) and goes on to illustrate how the word

jumped from beatniks to surf culture, and from surf culture to the suburban youth of

the San Fernando Valley. Once it made it’s way into “valley speak” the media quickly

glamorized the suburban youth, and it spread all over the country through the 70s and

80s.

How much does the word “like” actually have an effect on the way one presents

themself? Moreover, is the use of “like” as a hedge interjection exclusive to a particular

age group or gender/sexual identity? In taking a survey of those closest to me, I hoped

to answer this question within at least my social group. I had 18 responses, each person

representing a unique combination of age, sexuality, ethnicity, and learning of the

English language. The youngest participant was 16, and the oldest 74. Along with asking

each individual to document their usage of the word “like” (in multiple contexts, not just

as a hedge interjection) I asked each person to submit what opinions they form when

they encounter another English speaker that frequently uses the word. The responses

were overwhelmingly negative, with only four responders giving a neutral response: one

heterosexual Hispanic man of 47 years old, one heterosexual Hispanic female of 16

years old, one heterosexual Hispanic female of 18 years old, and one Black female of 19

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years old. 3 out of the 4 subjects learned to speak English in Texas, all 4 of them

currently reside in Texas.

Unfortunately, it seems to be a recurring social perception that using the word

“like” as a hedge interjection signifies either internalized insecurity, or a lower level of

intelligence. Gisle Andersen argues that it is used as a form of hesitation by adolescents

without full linguistic competence, or that it is a method of marking a sentence as less

assertive. (Andersen 2000) In some sense, my findings would support this on a very

basic level. The highest number for uses of “like” as an interjection came from the

youngest female of the pool (16 years old, heterosexual Hispanic), with the next largest

number coming from a 19-year-old white bisexual female, and the third largest being a

black heterosexual female. The highest number from any male ties that of the second

highest of the females. The 16-year-old heterosexual white male only used the

interjection once, whereas the heterosexual female of his group used it upwards of 5o

times. This was completely unexpected for me, as I had thought it would be relatively

high.

Of course the major effects on this study include education as well as

employment and how free time is spent. The 16-year-old heterosexual male is a high

school debate team member, one that is taught to use verbal hedges as infrequently as

possible at risk of sounding weak on a position. This contrasts with me, for example,

since I use the hedge interjection often and have a public speaking background. I can say

from personal experience it is not, by any means, a way of making myself less assertive.

Where my findings disagree with Andersen is that although it was used more

frequently by the youth demographic (especially females) is that it is also used by the

older demographic. What I did not expect was to have any uses of the interjection from

the 74-year-old Hispanic female. Since she is so far past youth, well educated in her

ethnic and age demographic, it was unexpected to see it used in this relatively “new”

way. Her statement on her perception of the use of “like” as an interjection was: “I

consider the use of the word ‘like’ as an interjection to be a verbal crutch used mostly

by those born after the late sixties. The use of certain words is also passed on within the

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workplace, school and among friends.” For the most part, I would agree with this

statement. It is more frequently used by people born after the late 1960.

An unexpected find was that the 30-year-old homosexual male from

California used the word as an interjection zero times. Being the only Californian in the

group, having been educated at UCLA right near the San Fernando Valley, it was to be

expected that the interjection use would be within his vocabulary. His perception on the

use of the word as an interjection was: “Growing up in California, the use of like as an

interjection is generally referred to as valley speak or sounding like a valley girl. I

associate it with younger, less educated individuals that don't think before they speak.

That isn't to imply I've never used like as an interjection, but I try to formulate my

thoughts before I speak so that it isn't necessary.” This implies that the use of the hedge

is one of insecurity.

It seemed to be consistent that this use of the word “like” was, in fact,

more prominent among younger speakers as well as gendered towards women,

however, education-wise, there seemed to be little correlation. Two females, both

heterosexual, one Asian 20-year-old, and one White/Hispanic 19-year-old, both enrolled

as sophomores here at NYU, had comparable interjection-usage numbers to that of an

18-year-old female high school senior, and that of a 22-year-old working adult female.

When this is compared to the 48-year-old Real Estate agent with a college degree from

UTSA in Criminal Justice, the educational correlation is actually backwards of what one

would expect. The aforementioned college students used the interjection less often

than a professional upper-middle class heterosexual Hispanic female. Beyond even that,

something that seems to fit with a generally accepted beliefe is that the very same

woman noticed something else peculiar about her speech. While documenting her

usage of “like,” she realized that she also used the hedges “you know” and “you know

what I mean?” very often, beyond 100 times a day.

With the exception of myself, people with more than one native language

(or a native language other than English) seemed to have a lower number of how often

they used the interjection. It’s to be expected that people without native English

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acquisition use it less frequently since the interjection seems to be something that we

acquire as adolescent native English speakers.

In the case of genderlects, I think it’s a safe conclusion to say that a larger

frequency of the hedge interjection is used by women than it is by men. Beyond even

that, it follows no clear path of sexuality-defined borders either. Bisexual, lesbian, and

heterosexual women were all just as likely to use it more than men were. There appears

to be no definitive with level of education and usage, but there does seem to be a

strong link between age and use. A younger male was much more likely to use the

hedge than an older male, and a younger female was still more likely to use it than an

older female. However, this doesn’t seem to be something that is “outgrown” past

adolescence, as Gisle Andersen would have you believe. Non-native English speakers are

significantly less likely to use it as a hedge, though it can occur, seeing as most people

take social cues from what they observe. Ethnically, speaking of my sample pool, a

Hispanic female was more likely to use it as a hedge than a white female. There were no

definitive male ethnic trends. Location-wise, the people that acquired English in south

Texas were more likely to use the hedge than those of other parts of the state, or any of

the other location groups measured.

Overall, it would seem that the public generally agrees that “like” being used as a

hedge makes someone come across as less educated, childish, and/or unsure of

themselves. Despite this very prominent belief, it’s the very same people with this

opinion that use the hedge (or others) so frequently. One of only two subject that did

not use the word “like” as an interjection at all, was also one of the 4 that expressed

that it did not necessarily imply any socio-economic/educational status of the people

using the word. Though this has led me to believe that all inferences as to what "like" is

used for in speech actually stems from a stereotype that was constructed and

introduced into media, and thus being integrated into mainstream culture, as opposed

to it actually signifiying any sort of insecurity, demeaning of assertion, or lower level of

education.

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References

Andersen, Gisle. 2000. Pragmatic Markers and Propositional Attitude. John Benjamins

Publishing Company. 28-32

Andrews, Gus. 2003. The, Like, Downfall of the English Language. Bitchfest: Ten Years of

Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine. 38-42

Arana, Gabriel. 2013. Creaky Voice: Yet Another Example of Young Women's Linguistic

Ingenuity. The Atlantic.