NAME : SITI HARDIANA
CLASS : 4SA01
NPM : 16611806
TUGAS KETIGA BU DEFI
Teen slang: What's, like, so
wrong with like?
Actress Emma
Thompson says young people make themselves sound stupid by speaking slang
outside of school. But while the use of the word "like" might annoy
her, it fulfils a useful role in everyday speech.
"That's,
like, so unfair."
One response
to Emma Thompson's comments likely to trigger a rush of steam from her ears.
The Oscar
winner has spoken out against the use of sloppy language. She says people who
speak improperly make her feel "insane" and she criticises teenagers
for using words such as "like" and "innit".
But is
peppering one's sentences with "like" such a heinous crime against
the English tongue?
Language
experts are more understanding of teen culture than Thompson, pointing out the
word's many uses. It's the unconventional uses that are probably getting the
actress hot under the collar. One of the most common is using "like"
as a filler word in a conversation.
But fillers
are a way we all stall for time when speaking and historically always have. It
has nothing to do with sloppiness, says John Ayto, editor of the Oxford
Dictionary of Modern Slang.
"It is
not a lazy use of language, that is a common fallacy among non-linguists,"
he says. "We all use fillers because we can't keep up highly-monitored,
highly-grammatical language all the time. We all have to pause and think.
"We
have always used words to plug gaps or make sentences run smoothly. They
probably did in Anglo Saxon times, it's nothing new."
But
crucially, we often use non-word fillers, such at "um" and
"ah". The fact that "like" is an actual word could be why
Thompson doesn't like it.
Using 'um' may seem more correct to
Emma Thompson because using 'like' as a filler is not a feature of her
languageRobert Groves, Editor of the Dictionary of the English Language
"When
words break out from a specific use and become commonly used in a different way,
people come down on them," says Dr Robert Groves, editor of the Collins
Dictionary Of The English Language.
"Using
'um' may seem more correct to Emma Thompson because using 'like' as a filler is
not a feature of the language she uses. The more disassociated you are from the
group that uses a word in a different way, the more that use stands out. It
will be invisible to teenagers."
Another
common use of "like" by young people is as a quotative, which is a
grammatical device to mark reported speech. For example: "She was like,
'you aren't using that word correctly' and I was like, 'yes I am'."
It is also
commonly used to indicate a metaphor or exaggeration. "I, like, died of
embarrassment when you told me to stop using slang." Alternatively, it is
employed to introduce a facial expression, gesture or sound. A speaker may say
"I was like..." and then hold their hands up, shrug or roll their
eyes.
While
certain uses of language - such as fillers - have probably always been around,
the appropriation of "like" in this context can be traced to a
familiar source of so much modern day slang- California's Valley Girls.
"Many
of these uses of 'like' originate in America," says Dr Groves. "They
were probably introduced into British English through the media, like films and
television."
Using
"like" in this way is also about signalling membership of a club,
says English language specialist Professor Clive Upton, from the University of
Leeds.
"If
they [young people] do deploy the sort of language they're using on the streets
in formal settings then it could well be a disadvantage to them but at other
times it's quite clearly the way they get along, the way that they signal they
belong in a group, the way that they fit in.
"And we
all do that in our professional lives as well. We've got all our acronyms and
our little words that we use that send a signal - I'm one of the club."
Thompson
just isn't part of the "like" club.
