How to Quit Saying the Word Like Every language has its vocalized pauses, which are meaningless words used to keep the conversation flowing smoothly.[1] In English, its usually um, er, ah, or you know. In North America, especially among young people, its common to use the word like as a vocalized pause. It began with Valley speak which is a stereotypical manner of speaking that originated in Southern California in the 70s.[2] If youre, like, totally hooked on using the word like, then these instructions will help you speak more professionally and stop being (like, so) annoying. Everybody has done it at least once, teachers, professors; even President Obama has the habit. If you feel informal for having the habit, youre not alone. Know that using the word like a lot makes you sound uncertain or unsure of yourself. When you take this out of your vocabulary, you start sounding more definitive and confident of your answers. Steps,Tips and Warnings 1 Know how the word like is supposed to be used. There are only two correct usages: Similarity - This tastes like chicken. Enjoyment - I like this movie. 2 Pause when you would typically insert like. Vocalized pauses are just filling places where you should pause. So, each time you anticipate saying like, pause instead. This approach works for other vocalized pauses, such as: um, er, ah, and, you know. Pausing will also make you sound more authoritative. 3 Record yourself to see how often you use the word like incorrectly. Once you can pinpoint your most common mistakes, itll be easier to catch yourself in action and make corrections. In any conversation or when speaking freely for a few minutes, youll probably notice a few patterns, which are addressed in the following steps. 4 Stop using like when quoting someone. Whenever you catch yourself using like to put words in someones mouth, replace it with said. Better yet, come up with a verb that more specifically describes how the person spoke: yelled, whispered, answered, exclaimed, insisted, etc. Doing this helps the reader imagine what youre describing, and your stories will be much more enjoyable to listen to. Incorrect: He was like Where are you going? and she was like None of your business! Correct: He asked, Where are you going? and she yelled, None of your business! 5 Dont use like to approximate. When youre giving a quantity that youre not sure of, you might use the word like to indicate that youre guessing or approximating. In this case, it can easily be replaced by the following words: about, approximately, or roughly. Incorrect: Shes, like, five feet tall. Correct: Shes about five feet tall. Incorrect: Youll need, like, three tablespoons of butter. Correct: Youll need roughly three tablespoons of butter. 6 Stop using like before adjectives and adverbs. You might also find yourself plugging other fillers such as so or really in between. Incorrect: He was, like, so tall. Correct: He was tall. Incorrect: Shes, like, really irritated. Correct: Shes irritated. 7 Improve your vocabulary. Your speech might feel naked without the word like to fill in gaps. The best remedy for this is to become more articulate. Whenever a statement feels plain, try to think of ways you can be more specific or descriptive. Bad: Hes like 160 lbs. Good: Hes about 160 lbs. Better: He weighs 160 lbs and has a stocky build. Bad: Shes, like, really happy with her new job. Good: Shes happy with her new job. Better: Shes more satisfied with her new job. 8 Quit using the word like altogether. If you find that youre still having a hard time using like correctly, you might want to abandon the word altogether, at least temporarily, just to break the habit. Even though there are ways to use like correctly, there are also ways to replace it. You cant use the word incorrectly if you dont use it at all! Similarity: Replace like with similar to. Enjoyment: Replace like with enjoy or savor or love. 9 Make sure to see how long you can go without saying the word like in an improper way. Tips This also applies to the word actually. Ask friends, family, and co-workers to let you know whenever you use the word like incorrectly. For more encouragement, have them make you put some money in a jar every time you say like. Fillers (such as like) will often appear in ones speaking when the pace is quick, as speaking gets ahead of the train of thought. Practice determining a pace that minimises the occurrence of these fillers. If youre trying to learn how to sound like a native English speaker, doing the opposite of these instructions might help, but only in informal situations. Using like excessively in the workplace can make you seem unprofessional... Like seriously, Im guilty of this too. Lol
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 10:24:29 +0000
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