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In
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
, the word ''like'' has a very flexible range of uses, ranging from conventional to non-standard. It can be used as a
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
,
verb A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
,
adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering ...
,
adjective In linguistics, an adjective (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that generally grammatical modifier, modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Tra ...
,
preposition Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply prepositions), are a class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in'', ''under'', ''towards'', ''before'') or mark various ...
,
particle In the Outline of physical science, physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscule in older texts) is a small wikt:local, localized physical body, object which can be described by several physical property, physical or chemical property, chemical ...
,
conjunction Conjunction may refer to: * Conjunction (grammar), a part of speech * Logical conjunction, a mathematical operator ** Conjunction introduction, a rule of inference of propositional logic * Conjunction (astronomy), in which two astronomical bodies ...
,
hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoini ...
, filler, and
quotative A quotative (abbreviated ) is a grammatical device to mark quoted speech in some languages, and as such it preserves the grammatical person and tense of the original utterance rather than adjusting it as would be the case with reported speech. It ...
.


Uses


Comparisons

''Like'' is one of the words in the English language that can introduce a
simile A simile () is a figure of speech that directly ''compares'' two things. Similes differ from other metaphors by highlighting the similarities between two things using comparison words such as "like", "as", "so", or "than", while other metaphors cr ...
(a
stylistic device In literature and writing, stylistically elements are the use of any of a variety of techniques to give an :wikt:auxiliary, auxiliary meaning, ideas, or feeling to the literalism or written. Figurative language A figure of speech is any way of ...
comparing two dissimilar ideas). It can be used as a
preposition Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply prepositions), are a class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in'', ''under'', ''towards'', ''before'') or mark various ...
, as in "He runs ''like'' a cheetah"; it can also be used as a
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
, as in "She acts very child-''like''. It can also be used in non-simile comparisons such as, "She has a dog ''like'' ours".


As a

conjunction Conjunction may refer to: * Conjunction (grammar), a part of speech * Logical conjunction, a mathematical operator ** Conjunction introduction, a rule of inference of propositional logic * Conjunction (astronomy), in which two astronomical bodies ...

''Like'' is often used in place of the
subordinating conjunction In grammar, a conjunction (abbreviated or ) is a part of speech that connects words, phrases, or clauses that are called the conjuncts of the conjunctions. That definition may overlap with that of other parts of speech and so what constitutes a ...
''as'', or ''as if''. Examples: * They look ''like'' they have been having fun. * They look ''as if'' they have been having fun. Many people became aware of the two options in 1954, when a famous ad campaign for Winston cigarettes introduced the slogan " Winston tastes good—like a cigarette should." The slogan was criticized for its usage by prescriptivists, the "as" construction being considered more proper. Winston countered with another ad, featuring a woman with greying hair in a bun who insists that ought to be "Winston tastes good ''as'' a cigarette should" and is shouted down by happy cigarette smokers asking "What do you want—good grammar or good taste?" The appropriateness of its usage as a conjunction is still
disputed Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...
, however. In some circles, it is considered a faux pas to use ''like'' instead of ''as'' or ''as if'', whereas in other circles ''as'' sounds stilted.


As a

noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...

Like can be used as a noun meaning "preference" or "kind". Examples: * She had many likes and dislikes. * We'll never see the like again.


As a

verb A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...

As a verb, ''like'' generally refers to a fondness for something or someone. * I ''like'' riding my bicycle. ''Like'' can be used to express a feeling of attraction between two people that is weaker than
love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...
. It does not necessarily imply a romantic attraction. Example: * Marc ''likes'' Denise. * I've taken a ''liking'' to our new neighbors. ''Like'' can also be used to indicate a wish for something in a polite manner. Example: * Would you like a cup of coffee?


As a colloquial

adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering ...

In some regional dialects of English, ''like'' may be used as an
adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering ...
ial
colloquialism Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...
in the construction ''be'' + ''like'' + ''to''
infinitive Infinitive (abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all languages. The word is deri ...
, meaning "be likely to, be ready to, be on the verge of." Examples: * He was like to go back next time. * He was like to go mad. As the following attest, this construction has a long history in the English language. * But Clarence had slumped to his knees before I had half-finished, and he ''was like to'' go out of his mind with fright. (Mark Twain, 1889, ''A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court'') * He saw he ''was like to'' leave such an heir. (Cotton Mather, 1853, ''Magnalia Christi Americana'') * He ''was like to'' lose his life in the one
attle Debris (, ) is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, as in geology, large rock fragments left by a melting glacier, etc. Depending on context, ''debris'' can refer to ...
and his liberty in the other
apture Apture was a service that allowed publishers and bloggers to link and incorporate multimedia into a dynamic layer above their pages. Apture was used by several large organizations and publishers including ''The Washington Post'', ''The Economist'' ...
but there was none of his money at stake in either. ( Charles MacFarlane and
Thomas Napier Thomson Thomas Napier Thomson (25 February 1798 – 1 February 1869) was a Scottish minister, historian and biographer. While still young he stopped using his middle name. Life He was born in Glasgow on 25 February 1798, the fifth son of Hugh Thomson, ...
, 1792, ''Comprehensive History of England'') * He was in some fear that if he could not bring about the King’s desires, he ''was like to'' lose his favor. (Gilbert Burnet, 1679, ''History of the Reformation of the Church of England'')


As a colloquial

quotative A quotative (abbreviated ) is a grammatical device to mark quoted speech in some languages, and as such it preserves the grammatical person and tense of the original utterance rather than adjusting it as would be the case with reported speech. It ...

''Like'' is sometimes used
colloquial Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conver ...
ly as a
quotative A quotative (abbreviated ) is a grammatical device to mark quoted speech in some languages, and as such it preserves the grammatical person and tense of the original utterance rather than adjusting it as would be the case with reported speech. It ...
to introduce a quotation or impersonation. This is also known as "quotation through simile". The word is often used to express that what follows is not an exact quotation but instead gives a general feel for what was said. In this usage, ''like'' functions in conjunction with a verb, generally ''be'' (but also ''say'', ''think'', etc.), as in the following examples: * He was like, "I'll be there in five minutes." * She was like, "You need to leave the room right now!" ''Like'' can also be used to paraphrase an implicitly unspoken idea or sentiment: * I was like, "Who do they think they are?" The marking of
past tense The past tense is a grammatical tense whose function is to place an action or situation in the past. Examples of verbs in the past tense include the English verbs ''sang'', ''went'' and ''washed''. Most languages have a past tense, with some hav ...
is often omitted (compare
historical present In linguistics and rhetoric, the historical present or historic present, also called dramatic present or narrative present, is the employment of the present tense when narrating past events. It is widely used in writing about history in Latin (w ...
): * They told me all sorts of terrible things, and I'm like "Forget it then." It is also sometimes used to introduce non-verbal mimetic performances, e.g., facial expressions, hand gestures, body movement, as well as sounds and noises: * I was like
peaker rolls eyes Peaker may refer to: * Peaking power plant * Brian Peaker, Canadian rower * Charles Peaker Charles Peaker (6 December 1899 – 11 August 1978), born in England, was a Canadian organist, choirmaster and academic. Life Peaker was born in Derby in ...
* The car was like, "vroom!" The use of ''like'' as a quotative is known to have been around since at least the 1980s.


As a

discourse particle A discourse marker is a word or a phrase that plays a role in managing the flow and structure of discourse. Since their main function is at the level of discourse (sequences of utterances) rather than at the level of utterances or sentences, disco ...
, filler or
hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoini ...


History

The word ''like'' has developed several non-traditional uses in informal speech. Especially since the late 20th century onward, it has appeared, in addition to its traditional uses, as a
colloquialism Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...
across all dialects of spoken English, serving as a
discourse particle A discourse marker is a word or a phrase that plays a role in managing the flow and structure of discourse. Since their main function is at the level of discourse (sequences of utterances) rather than at the level of utterances or sentences, disco ...
, filler,
hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoini ...
,
speech disfluency A speech disfluency, also spelled speech dysfluency, is any of various breaks, irregularities, or non-lexical vocables which occur within the flow of otherwise fluent speech. These include "false starts", i.e. words and sentences that are cut of ...
, or other
metalinguistic Metalinguistics is the branch of linguistics that studies language and its relationship to other cultural behaviors. It is the study of dialogue relationships between units of speech communication as manifestations and enactments of co-existence. ...
unit. Although these particular colloquial uses of ''like'' appear to have become widespread rather recently, its use as a filler is a fairly old regional practice in
Welsh English Welsh English ( cy, Saesneg Gymreig) comprises the dialects of English spoken by Welsh people. The dialects are significantly influenced by Welsh grammar and often include words derived from Welsh. In addition to the distinctive words and gr ...
and in Scotland, it was used similarly at least as early as the 19th century. It is traditionally, though not quite every time, used to finish a sentence in the Northern English dialect
Geordie Geordie () is a nickname for a person from the Tyneside area of North East England, and the dialect used by its inhabitants, also known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English. There are different definitions of what constitut ...
. It may also be used in a systemic format to allow individuals to introduce what they say, how they say and think. Despite such prevalence in modern-day spoken English, these colloquial usages of ''like'' rarely appear in writing (unless the writer is deliberately trying to replicate colloquial dialogue) and they have long been stigmatized in formal speech or in high cultural or high social settings. Furthermore, this use of ''like'' seems to appear most commonly, in particular, among natively English-speaking children and adolescents, while less so, or not at all, among middle-aged or elderly adults. One suggested explanation for this phenomenon is the argument that younger English speakers are still developing their
linguistic competence In linguistics, linguistic competence is the system of unconscious knowledge that one knows when they know a language. It is distinguished from linguistic performance, which includes all other factors that allow one to use one's language in practi ...
, and,
metalinguistic Metalinguistics is the branch of linguistics that studies language and its relationship to other cultural behaviors. It is the study of dialogue relationships between units of speech communication as manifestations and enactments of co-existence. ...
ally wishing to express ideas without sounding too confident, certain, or assertive, use ''like'' to fulfill this purpose. In
pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...
, such colloquial applications of ''like'' (especially in verbal excess) are commonly and often comedically associated with
Valley girl A valley girl is a socioeconomic, linguistic, and youth subcultural stereotype and stock character originating during the 1980s: any materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, fr ...
s, as made famous through the song "Valley Girl" by
Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...
, released in 1982, and the film of the same name, released in the following year. The stereotyped "valley girl" language is an exaggeration of the variants of
California English California English (or Californian English) collectively refers to varieties of American English native to California. A distinctive vowel shift was first noted by linguists in the 1980s in southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area of n ...
spoken by younger generations. This non-traditional usage of the word has been around at least since the 1950s, introduced through beat (or
beatnik Beatniks were members of a social movement in the 1950s that subscribed to an anti-materialistic lifestyle. History In 1948, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase "Beat Generation", generalizing from his social circle to characterize the undergr ...
) and jazz culture. The beatnik character
Maynard G. Krebs Maynard Gwalter Krebs is the "beatnik" sidekick of the title character in the U.S. television sitcom ''The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis'', which aired on CBS from 1959 to 1963. The Krebs character, portrayed by actor Bob Denver, begins the series a ...
(
Bob Denver Robert Osbourne Denver (January 9, 1935 – September 2, 2005) was an American comedic actor who portrayed Gilligan on the 1964–1967 television series ''Gilligan's Island'', and beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the 1959–1963 series ''The Ma ...
) in the popular ''
Dobie Gillis ''The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis'' (also known as simply ''Dobie Gillis'' or ''Max Shulman's Dobie Gillis'' in later seasons and in syndication) is an American sitcom starring Dwayne Hickman that aired on CBS from September 29, 1959, to June 5, ...
'' TV series of 1959-1963 brought the expression to prominence; this was reinforced in later decades by the character of
Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer *Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse *Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...
on ''
Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American animation, animated media franchise based on an animated television series launched in 1969 and continued through several derivative List of Scooby-Doo media, media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the orig ...
'' (who was based on Krebs). Very early use of this locution can be seen in a New Yorker cartoon of 15 September 1928, in which two young ladies are discussing a man's workplace: "What's he got – an awfice?" "No, he's got like a loft." It is also used in the 1962 novel ''
A Clockwork Orange ''A Clockwork Orange'' may refer to: * ''A Clockwork Orange'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess ** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (film), a 1971 film directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel *** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (soundtrack), the film ...
'' by the narrator as part of his teenage slang and in the ''
Top Cat ''Top Cat'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and originally broadcast in prime time on the ABC network. It aired in a weekly evening time slot from September 27, 1961, to April 18, 1962, for a single season of ...
'' cartoon series from 1961 to 1962 by the jazz beatnik type characters. A common eye dialect spelling is ''lyk''.


Examples

''Like'' can be used in much the same way as "um..." or "er..." as a
discourse particle A discourse marker is a word or a phrase that plays a role in managing the flow and structure of discourse. Since their main function is at the level of discourse (sequences of utterances) rather than at the level of utterances or sentences, disco ...
. It has become common especially among North American teenagers to use the word "like" in this way, as in Valspeak. For example: * I, like, don't know what to do. It is also becoming more often used (East Coast
Scottish English Scottish English ( gd, Beurla Albannach) is the set of varieties of the English language spoken in Scotland. The transregional, standardised variety is called Scottish Standard English or Standard Scottish English (SSE). Scottish Standard ...
,
Northern England English The English language in Northern England has been shaped by the region's history of settlement and migration, and today encompasses a group of related dialects known as Northern England English (or, simply, Northern English in the United Kingd ...
,
Hiberno-English Hiberno-English (from Latin ''Hibernia'': "Ireland"), and in ga, Béarla na hÉireann. or Irish English, also formerly Anglo-Irish, is the set of English dialects native to the island of Ireland (including both the Republic of Ireland a ...
and
Welsh English Welsh English ( cy, Saesneg Gymreig) comprises the dialects of English spoken by Welsh people. The dialects are significantly influenced by Welsh grammar and often include words derived from Welsh. In addition to the distinctive words and gr ...
in particular) at the end of a sentence, as an alternative to ''you know''. This usage is sometimes considered to be a colloquial
interjection An interjection is a word or expression that occurs as an utterance on its own and expresses a spontaneous feeling or reaction. It is a diverse category, encompassing many different parts of speech, such as exclamations ''(ouch!'', ''wow!''), curse ...
and it implies a desire to remain calm and defuse tension: * I didn't say anything, like. * Just be cool, like. Use of ''like'' as a filler has a long history in Scots English, as in
Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
's 1886 novel ''
Kidnapped Kidnapped may refer to: * subject to the crime of kidnapping Literature * ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson * ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Ca ...
'':
"What'll like be your business, mannie?" "What's like wrong with him?" said she at last.
''Like'' can be used as
hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoini ...
to indicate that the following phrase will be an approximation or exaggeration, or that the following words may not be quite right, but are close enough. It may indicate that the phrase in which it appears is to be taken metaphorically or as a
hyperbole Hyperbole (; adj. hyperbolic ) is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. In rhetoric, it is also sometimes known as auxesis (literally 'growth'). In poetry and oratory, it emphasizes, evokes strong feelings, and ...
. This use of ''like'' is sometimes regarded as
adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering ...
ial, as ''like'' is often
synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
ous here with adverbial phrases of approximation, such as "almost" or "more or less". Examples: * I have, like, no money left. * The restaurant is only, like, five miles from here. * I, like, almost died! Conversely, ''like'' may also be used to indicate a counterexpectation to the speaker, or to indicate certainty regarding the following phrase. Examples: * There was, like, a living kitten in the box! * This is, like, the only way to solve the problem. * I, like, know what I'm doing, okay? In the UK reality television series ''
Love Island Love Island may refer to: Film * ''Love Island'' (1952 film), an American film directed by Adam Lloyd starring Todd Wathen and Eva Gabor * ''Love Island'' (2014 film), directed by Jasmila Žbanić Music * ''Love Island'' (album), a 1978 album ...
'' the word 'like' has been used an average of 300 times per episode, much to the annoyance of viewers.


See also

*
Like button A like button, like option, or recommend button, is a feature in communication software such as social networking services, Internet forums, news websites and blogs where the user can express that they like, enjoy or support certain content. In ...


Bibliography

*Andersen, Gisle. (1998). The pragmatic marker ''like'' from a relevance-theoretic perspective. In A. H. Jucker & Y. Ziv (Eds.) ''Discourse markers: Descriptions and Theory'' (pp. 147–70). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. *Andersen, Gisle. (2000). The role of the pragmatic marker ''like'' in utterance interpretation. In G. Andersen & T. Fretheim (Ed.), ''Pragmatic markers and propositional attitude: Pragmatics and beyond'' (pp. 79). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. *Barbieri, Federica. (2005). Quotative use in American English. A corpus-based, cross-register comparison. ''Journal of English Linguistics'', ''33'', (3), 225-256. *Barbieri, Federica. (2007). 'Older men and younger women': A corpus-based study of quotative use in American English. ''English World-Wide'', ''28'', (1), 23-45. *Blyth, Carl, Jr.; Recktenwald, Sigrid; & Wang, Jenny. (1990). I'm like, 'Say what?!': A new quotative in American oral narrative. ''American Speech'', ''65'', 215-227. *Cruse, A. (2000). Meaning in language. An introduction to semantics and pragmatics. *Cukor-Avila, Patricia; (2002). ''She says'', ''she goes'', ''she is like'': Verbs of quotation over time in African American Vernacular English. ''American Speech'', ''77'' (1), 3-31. *Dailey-O'Cain, Jennifer. (2000). The sociolinguistic distribution of and attitudes toward focuser ''like'' and quotative ''like''. ''Journal of Sociolinguistics'', ''4'', 60–80. * D'Arcy, Alexandra. (2017). ''Discourse-pragmatic variation in context: Eight hundred years of LIKE''. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. *Ferrara, Kathleen; & Bell, Barbara. (1995). Sociolinguistic variation and discourse function of constructed dialogue introducers: The case of be+like. ''American Speech'', ''70'', 265-289. *Fleischman, Suzanne. (1998). Des jumeaux du discours. ''La Linguistique'', ''34'' (2), 31-47. *Golato, Andrea; (2000). An innovative German quotative for reporting on embodied actions: ''Und ich so''/''und er so'' 'and I’m like/and he’s like'. ''Journal of Pragmatics'', ''32'', 29–54. *Jones, Graham M. & Schieffelin, Bambi B. (2009). Enquoting Voices, Accomplishing Talk: Uses of ''Be+Like'' in Instant Messaging. ''Language & Communication'', 29(1), 77-113. *Jucker, Andreas H.; & Smith, Sara W. (1998). And people just you know like 'wow': Discourse markers as negotiating strategies. In A. H. Jucker & Y. Ziv (Eds.), ''Discourse markers: Descriptions and theory'' (pp. 171–201). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. *Mesthrie, R., Swann, J., Deumert, A., & Leap, W. (2009). Introducing sociolinguistics. Edinburgh University Press. *Miller, Jim; Weinert, Regina. (1995). The function of like in dialogue. ''Journal of Pragmatics'', ''23'', 365-93. *Romaine, Suzanne; Lange, Deborah. (1991). The use of ''like'' as a marker of reported speech and thought: A case of grammaticalization in progress. ''American Speech'', ''66'', 227-279. *Ross, John R.; & Cooper, William E. (1979). Like syntax. In W. E. Cooper & E. C. T. Walker (Eds.), ''Sentence processing: Psycholinguistic studies presented to Merrill Garrett'' (pp. 343–418). New York: Erlbaum Associates. *Schourup, L. (1985). ''Common discourse particles: "Like", "well", "y'know"''. New York: Garland. *Siegel, Muffy E. A. (2002). Like: The discourse particle and semantics. ''Journal of Semantics'', ''19'' (1), 35-71. *Taglimonte, Sali; & Hudson, Rachel. (1999). ''Be like'' et al. beyond America: The quotative system in British and Canadian youth. ''Journal of Sociolinguistics'', ''3'' (2), 147-172. *Tagliamonte, Sali, and Alexandra D'Arcy. (2004). He's like, she's like: The quotative system in Canadian youth. ''Journal of Sociolinguistics'', ''8'' (4), 493-514. *Underhill, Robert; (1988). Like is like, focus. ''American Speech'', ''63'', 234-246.


References


External links

* Se
Fleischman (1998)
({{jstor, 30249153) for a parallel discussion of ''like'' and the similar discourse particle ''genre'' in French. English grammar English words