Skip to main content

The 'like' factor

Interacting with different people of my own age here in the university leaves different impressions. And even if you are not interacting, it is difficult not to overhear snippets of conversation between others (especially undergrads) who discuss a lot of things. I find that the word that dominates these conversation is, "Like". A typical conversation snippet is this: "And I was like... totally, like [eyes appropriately squinted, shaking head in disapproval] and then he was like [raised eyebrows] ... and then I was like, OH MY GOD!! [bulging eyes and throwing up arms]". Please interpret the above ...-s to mean a sufficient pause in the conversation.



It used to be unnnerving at first, because the 'like' word can take a thousand different meanings at different times, sort of like the universal pronoun. Most of the time, it means exasperation at something, or when the speaker is at a loss of words to actually convey his/her feelings. But the rampant use of the word in all sentences was really disturbing, because essentially the word is used to draw an analogy, and so you have to guess a lot to express that the meaning of whatever is being conveyed is comprehensible to you. And almost everybody uses it so liberally.

The habit is pretty infectious as well. So much so that at times, when I am the only person uttering full sentences without a liberal dose of 'like', soemthing feels weird. Forget about the accent and other stuff: that gets absorbed over time and you will notice it only after a long long time when a sudden conversation with someone fresh from India will remind you of your own accent being twanged. This 'like' phenomenon is a very inviting stream that seems to fill conversations without having to explicitly or consciously search for the real words when speaking. It is just such an inviting short-cut!

And I am trying to get rid of that habit so earnestly. I rarely hear that word when a professor speaks, or when a senior grad student speaks. They always sort of seem to effortlessly think before they speak. For unfortunate first year grad students like yours truly, however, we tend to shoot first and ask questions later. I suppose the tree that bears fruit actually bends low, and so I need to really really practise eliminating the 'like' word from my conversations and think and respond --- may the force be with me!

Oh, BTW, do check out India's invasion of the Sans Seriffe islands. :)

Update: look at the video of that in action! :D The guy is a friend of a friend :)

Comments

  1. I find the use of American slang in the language highly infuriating. I don't know why. Long live Indian English!

    By the way, Sudipta, I succumbed to the temptation of Orkut and I even managed to find a few old friends from school whom I've lost contact with over 10 years. So no more Orkut-bashing from me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. hello! you had left a comment on my UN essay blog, and I like your blog as well...you seem to be an indian student in the US, albeit a greaduate one! why not let's crosslink our blogs

    ReplyDelete
  3. what bothers me most - along the same lines - is "s" ... anyways, laters, sometimes soon ... and i am petrified of picking it up!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I hate "anyways." So many people who should know better use that ugly word.

    ReplyDelete
  5. thanks for reading my post. i've linked your blog on mine!

    ReplyDelete
  6. *in a high pitched squeaky voice with lots of hand gestures* like...i like never got in the habit coz...I guess...like graduate business students are like saved from too much of such exposure.

    But gotta say, i mostly find this 'like' thing really amusing :D

    Sky

    ReplyDelete
  7. imo, using 'like' in every sentence that you utter is a surefire way to completely destroy your vocabulary forever. thankfully, i figured out early on about this utterly dangerous habit of using 'like' to supplement the correct adjective/noun in every thing you speak!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hari, Yeah of course, long live Indian (err... British) English! And stuff like 'anyways' are really irritating at times, too!

    BTW, welcome to Orkut! As I'm sure you will find, the same keys open the doors to both heaven and hell.

    Rajarshi, thank you for linking to my blog. I usually don't link to other blogs unless I read them consistently and really like the contents. With some time, I am sure I'll do that for your blog too if I like it.

    Ricercar, yeah that is irritating as well. But it is not so infectious as the 'like' word. Try speaking to 3 people who use this consistently and you'll know.

    Sky, yeah it is amusing as long as you aren't trying to have a serious conversation on some topic. BTW, I do definitely want to see you perform all that squeaky voice and hand gestures live in action! :D

    Life lover, well said! It does play havoc with the active vocab. And kudos to you for actively trying to ward off the evil! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. and i m like and u know like n oh my gad..:).yes u r right!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your experience is "like" hers

    :D

    S

    ReplyDelete
  11. Pallavi, thank you so much for reminding me about the video! I uploaded it later :)

    Supremus, awesome! You have some nice connections, like that link was totally... like :D

    ReplyDelete
  12. Well the post is like great ;)) Actually, it's great.

    I had a friend who always peppered his sentences with 'sort of'...so everything for him was 'sort of' , never exact!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I picked that horrible habit up in school back in India from a classmate that I used to tease for saying'like' a million times. And horror of horrors it grew on me! I spent many a conscious momnet trying to rid myself of the habit. And its gone for the most part. Except sometimes it has an uncanny way of creeping into conversations and freaking me out.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Deepak, thank you so much :) Everyone has his or her own pet space-filler, I suppose.

    M, hahahah --- I told you, right, it is extremely infectious! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Welcome to America !!! :D Its awful americans DO become short of words when xpressin themselves despite d fact english is their native language...guess they quit repeating 'like' in their conversations when they really do become REAL intellects..say after a PhD maybe :D :D-Ms NMA

    ReplyDelete
  16. true dude!
    similarly there are many words which are repeated in Indian accent.. say 'basically, actually, 'ok' etc..' not a good practice at al!
    and 1 more thing, i need a genuine advice from u on sth:
    c, i'm a 2005 passed out Engineering student. going for an MS has always been my dream. but right now its not possible due to several reasons! i thought i'll take up the exam and go for it after 3 yrs from now, say 2010 spring. but ppl advice me to go for an MBA instead, cuz i'll already be having around 5 yrs of work experience and an MS wouldn't help me that well. But MBA would add value to my career.
    Plz tell me your opinion. Thanks in advance!

    ReplyDelete
  17. i plead guilty!! never even realised it! :(( me will make a conscious effort to eliminate it from my vocabulary forever :D who'd have thought ur blog was educational too... :D

    ReplyDelete
  18. Miss NMA, the hidden meaning in your sentence is chosen to be ignored by the present author :)

    Anonymous, it is less of an accent thing and more a cultural thing, I suppose.

    About your question: it is difficult if not impossible for me to give you any sensible advice based on the little information you've provided here. If you are looking at an MS just to increase your paycheck, then yes the MBA would be more sensible after 5 years in the industry. When you wake up from your "passed out" state, see if you actually stick around for the whole 5 years :)

    Di, long time no see (hey that rhymes!!) :)

    And so you're guilty as well!! Ha hahahaa --- gotcha! :D

    ReplyDelete
  19. anon again.. dont get tis "When you wake up from your "passed out" state, see if you actually stick around for the whole 5 years :)"

    meanin?

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous, it was just a joke, which I wouldn't explain. The meaning conveyed was, you can take a much better decision after staying in the industry for 5 years --- it is difficult to say what things will be like after 5 years

    ReplyDelete
  21. 'like' factor!
    :)
    thanx!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous, no probs, buddy --- good luck ahead!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maa khuh chihal a panjam hastam

The hit counter on my blog reached 20074 today. Why you may ask, is that news, and why hadn't I cheered myself up when it was at 20,000 for example? Well, it is news because 20074 has been a very special number for me during my entire college life: it was my admission number, and my system-wide unique identity. It is strange, and surprising, how these numbers become a part of our identity. The social security number, the passport number, the id number in the college, or even your roll number somehow becomes an almost innate part of the day-to-day life. As soon as I see the same number somewhere else: maybe on a telephone, on a hitcounter, maybe somewhere else... a thousand memories are triggered. As my eyes struck the hitcounter showing 20074 right now, I was thrown back to memories of filling up exam answer sheets, hostel admission forms, library recall requests, and so much more! I believe that number was present on almost every official form which I filled in college: even when

Swami Vivekananda and the Indian Renaissance

The following is an article I sent to my mother based on which she presented at one of her conferences. Do read. =======================================  The common perception of Swami Vivekananda as the religious leader who preached Hinduism to the West and established the Ramakrishna Mission in India is a very limited definition of the impact he had on the collective psyche of the common Indian. Besides his direct impact in adding steam to the Indian Renaissance, a large part of his thoughts and writings also affected the other stalwarts of the movement. While fathoming the entirety of his impact on the Indian Renaissance would be impossible, we will briefly explore some aspects of his influence in the following pages. Raja Ram Mohan Roy is generally credited with ushering in the revolution. His numerous ventures that contradicted the prevailing religious opinion of right and wrong broke the stranglehold of the prevalent quasi-religion, the norms of society and its sole autocrati

Tips and tricks for the GRE

Hello everybody, First of all, I thank all of you for the good wishes and congratulations that you have sent... either as mails, PMs, or anyhow. I have also been getting a lot of mails from people asking for tips and tricks and how I made it to the 800 in quants and 700 on the verbal. So if you are prepared for a lot of gyaan (which I love shelling out), here you go: 1. How long does it take to prepare? A: There is no definite time frame. But about 2-3 dedicated hours a day, for about two-and-a-half months is enough. Then, again, it is dependent on your level. To find that out, I'd suggest that you should take one paper-based test that is there in the front of the book (Barron's, Kaplan, anything... or even the Big Book). If you score about 750 on the quants, and about 500 on the verbal (no cheatings, etc) then the time frame I've said should be enough. If you scored more, great... you should try to get to around 1550!! But if less... well, spruce up depending on how