Have you ‘like’ watched the latest movie. It is ‘like’ awesome. I am ‘like’ planning to watch it again, ‘like’ the fourth time, in ‘like’ five days.
The usage of this vocalized pause in spoken English is undoubtedly the most annoying style contributed by us to the language. This excessive use of Like is a definite hair puller for many. What was considered to be one of those North American teenage girls ‘thingy’ has now become the lingo of many in this part of the world as well.
If ‘like’ is more irritating than the conventional fillers like ‘um’ or ‘er’ in spoken English, then it certainly has to be the most versatile. Ask those compulsive ‘Like’ clickers of Facebook who convey everything from “I agree with you” to a more basic acknowledgment to say “I saw this post”.
'Like' gives us the flexibility to interpret its meaning. While the reader might have clicked ‘like’ more out of reflex the one who posted might imagine that their work is truly loved.
The usage of this vocalized pause in spoken English is undoubtedly the most annoying style contributed by us to the language. This excessive use of Like is a definite hair puller for many. What was considered to be one of those North American teenage girls ‘thingy’ has now become the lingo of many in this part of the world as well.
If ‘like’ is more irritating than the conventional fillers like ‘um’ or ‘er’ in spoken English, then it certainly has to be the most versatile. Ask those compulsive ‘Like’ clickers of Facebook who convey everything from “I agree with you” to a more basic acknowledgment to say “I saw this post”.
'Like' gives us the flexibility to interpret its meaning. While the reader might have clicked ‘like’ more out of reflex the one who posted might imagine that their work is truly loved.
The trouble with this flexibility to interpret is that, sometimes, it looks plain silly when ‘Like’ is used to convey sympathy. Sample this post I once saw,
“I did not check FB for the past 3 weeks. I lost someone”.
This sad post had 50+ Like. Were these people happy that our man did not come on FB for 3 weeks? I certainly hope they didn’t ‘Like’ the fact that he lost someone.
In the digital marketing world ‘Like’ is an ‘Opt-in’ option. By clicking ‘like’ to a page you are opting in to be fed automatically by all the updates to that page or site.
Though some of us might be voting for the other more frequently used 4 letter word for its versatility, 'Like' should rank right up there. You can love it or you can hate it but the fact is, ‘Like’ is here to stay.
So, the next time when you struggle to express your emotion towards something, simply 'Like' it and leave the world to interpret the meaning.
Do I see a ‘thumbs-up’ from you to this idea?
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