So, Well

[digitS']

It's interesting how language changes.

I easily remember the time when television reporters began most every response to a question from the anchor with, "Well, ..."

I don't watch as much teevee these days but just this morning noticed a reporter beginning with, "So, ..."

Time brings change. This one is okay. "Well" seemed patronizing or condescending to me, invariably beginning the responses. "So" seems as though we should accept what follows as a statement of fact. Not that it is insisted upon but fact as the responder knows it, nonetheless.

On another note: I'm not sure if young American women are abandoning that rising tone at the end of every sentence as though anything they say is open to question. I hope so but someone with better hearing will have to inform me.

Steve
now, someone should begin a response with "well, so?" . just remember it's only a random ramble on my part .

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

Drives me CRAZY when the word LIKE is used every other few words. Or other words that permeate youngster's vocabulary waaaay too much - like Awesome, So, Clearly, and more....

 

[jasonvivier]

Drives me CRAZY when the word LIKE is used every other few words. Or other words that permeate youngster's vocabulary waaaay too much - like Awesome, So, Clearly, and more....

Well, like why? lol

 

[AMKuska]

One of my essays in college was on speech disfluencies. The person in front of me used 49 likes in the space of 15 minutes.

 

[digitS']

It's a positive word and other choices might be more tiresome.

Like's (over)use dates back a long while. The suffix -ly is derived from like. She worked quietly -- she worked quite-like. ... they will likely eat the candy first -- they will like-like eat the candy first.

The lingo young people use to set themselves apart from the olde is language which may linger a lifetime.

Steve

 

[so lucky]

It always irritates me to hear speakers use the word "arguably" when they mean "unarguably." They use "arguably" when they mean "definitely, positively," when it actually means "up for debate."
Just one of my many pet peeves.

 

[nachoqtpie]

Ooooh I used to be really bad with "like." I then dated a guy whose father was a professor at one of the local universities (Xavier) and he was ALWAYS correcting me. I finally started using "he/she said" instead of "so he/she was like" and it's stuck ever since. I ALWAYS correct my daughter when she throws out the slang of today. The other day she said something was "ratchet" and I went into the closet where I keep the house tools and got her a ratchet and said "Is this what you were speaking of?" she looked at me a little strange and then I said "If not, then you need to change your words."

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

*Read this in your best valley-girl voice.*

"So this totally ratchet guy like made what was like clearly the most awesome comeback in history! Like it was arguably so epic that the teacher like sent him to detention. Lololol it was hilarious. ROFL."

Sorry, I had to...
Didn't make too many of you cringe, did I?

 

[nachoqtpie]

Haha!! As I was reading that Cher from the movie Clueless popped into my head....

 

[digitS']

I'm not sure if I have language pet peeves.

There was a time when I thought I would have to go with Plan B, finding a K to 12 teaching job. I finally realized that I just couldn't hear well enough for that. So, maybe that takes away some of the expectations I might have for how young people use the language. I don't want them cutting themselves off from earlier English. It is just so totally cool to be able to read words by a James Madison or a Samuel Adams, on something other than what is written on a beer bottle.

If there is a language peeve I have it's with my own use of English and I've said something about this on TEG -- not knowing how to pronounce some things leads to not knowing how to spell or use them correctly in written English. I need to ratchet up my efforts.

I have lots of trouble with finding agreement between my tenses and plurals . Often, I have to review rules because I miss the reinforcement of hearing people use the language. I mean, did he say "was" or "were?" I'm sure I'll never hear it ... besides, one side of my family used phrases like "they's," when I was learning English .

Steve
I mean, totally ...