There much ado about like at Beebs after actress Thompson was, like, very upset by, like, words and such. This comment by a reader named Colin was very clever.
Comparing "like" to "um" and "ah" as a filler/thought pause is okay, but there's one major difference. The listener can easily filter out the "um" and "ah" because they have no meaning. But "like" does, so the listener has to process "like" in the sentence's context to determine if it's relevant or not. This hinders comprehension because it has to be done before the full sentence is known. "I smell like a rat" means what? I stink, or I suspect a double-cross? Compare that with "I smell um a rat". No double meaning there.
More like this
Due to work stuff, I'm very busy this week, and I don't have time to write a detailed
pathological language post, so I chose something that doesn't take a lot of explanation, but
While browser over at programming.reddit.com, I came across something simultaneously hideous and amazing.
I saw it at Julie's.
"American Music," the Violent Femmes
"California Stars," Billy Bragg and Wilco
"The City of New Orleans," Arlo Guthrie
"Song to Woody," Bob Dylan
"The Body of an American," the Pogues