Posts
So in my last post I mentioned Americans abroad and their behavior. One that struck me as quite profound, is the 'like' lack of education among the younger generation.
As my husband and I were walking back to the bus station in Portovenere, we past a group of men, one of the men who was speaking was twenty-something man from the northern parts of the U.S. - he had the accent, ya know?
Anyway, he was talking rather loudly (as Americans tend to do), and I swear to you every other second or third word was the word 'like'!
I was suddenly aware of my generations lack of the vernacular when verbally communicating. I know that I have been guilty of that in the past, back when I was in my early twenties. Maybe it's an age thing?!?
I wanted to turn around and tell him "DUDE! Use your words!!" I mean if you are comparing something you could say "The taste was similar to that of a ...." instead of saying " It was like the taste of like a...."
....do you see what I mean. My auditory and mental sense felt like they had just been brutally assaulted! And I felt embarrassed for not just him, but myself and other people my age and especially younger. It's like we all watched "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" or "Valley Girls" and the movie never stopped playing in our subconscious mind.
3 comments:
You're right, of course, but this kinda goes back to the whole ebonics thing. There's conversational English and then there's written English. YOu can't go around talking like a professor all the time. And, girl! If you heard me talk sometimes... ;p
Leigh, obviously you are right, but it is really necessary to like use like the word 'like', every third word? I mean, it's like, uhhh, okay, like, enough, like, Grrrr....!
I've got my thing to that I became aware of and had to conciously make an effort to stop doing, which was always using 'and uhhhh' or just 'uhhh'! Sheesh!
It's the casual profanity of the younger set that irks me the most. There's a girl at work whose every sentence is laced with foul language. I don't know how she avoids slipping up and using it on the phones. Perhaps that proves it's a deliberate choice and not a habit.
Post a Comment