There are, like, over 171 thousand words in the English language. One of these words has dramatically impacted how we communicate with each other.
Hint: it can be found within the first sentence of this article.
Have you ever seen someone or something in a whole new light after a new fact or detail is told to you- and then it's something you are conscious of, afterwards. For me, it was my use of the word "like".
I had met a man while tailgating at the LSU v. Florida football game. We got into a conversation about me majoring in mass communication after he told me that he had recently retired from a job in the Pentagon. During our conversation, he had cut me off, mid-sentence, and asked me if I noticed how often I dropped "like" in my sentences.
He then told me it was important to stay aware of this habit when speaking with people, superiors especially. He said that it lacks professionalism and can prevent a person from moving up the business latter. The possibility that a single word could affect my future job had me determined to change my habits.
It's harder than it looks.
It was not until that moment that I realized how abused the word "like" is. As we continued talking, I would catch myself multiple times feeling compelled to say the word whenever I paused mid-sentence. It amazed me how effortlessly it slipped off my tongue when I wasn't paying attention. Trying to continue a conversation with this man, after becoming so self-aware, had me feeling as if I was walking on egg shells.
And so began a very, very long rest of the day. Not only was I watching myself to not slip up as I socialized, but this mental alarm would sound in my head whenever someone else dropped the word. If I had a nickel for how often the phrase was used while eating dinner, I'd probably have a large chunk of my spring semester paid for.
I believe that we use this word as a defense mechanism. As we balance holding a conversation with someone and trying to organize our thoughts for the next point, we pause. If we pause, we fear that we will lose their attention, or they believe we have nothing more to say. Saying "like" provides the speaker with a window of time to plan out what they want to say next. We have become so conditioned to the word that we understand that the speaker is not finished.
I also believe that movies and TV shows that we grew up watching, such as Clueless and Scooby Doo, have allowed "like" to become the first word we reach for when we can't think of anything else to say.
If you are reading this, I challenge you keep track how often the word is dropped in your daily conversations. Try to take a day where you don't say "like" in that context at all.
Trust me, trying to stop is more difficult than it sounds. I, personally, still have a lot of work to do.
