"Like" abuse redivivus

[Dennis Preston]

Well, if we attend to much of the data arnold has been collecting
from the "advice literature," we see that many purists tell us what
not to do an p. 106 and then do it themselves on p. 124.

dInIs

PS: p. #s invented.


At 1:35 AM +0000 4/13/08, ronbutters at AOL.COM wrote:
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       ronbutters at AOL.COM
>Subject:      Re: "Like" abuse redivivus
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>
>What kind of purist would not care "about the grammatical shape of
>[his own] utterance"? One man's pain in the ass is another's hole in
>the arse?
>
>Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: George Thompson <george.thompson at NYU.EDU>
>
>Date:         Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:56:53
>To:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject:      Re: [ADS-L] "Like" abuse redivivus
>
>
>>  But "I want like a dictionary" does not have the grammatical shape
>>  that would allow the interpretation "I want something like a
>>  dictionary."
>
>I doubt that my comrade would have cared about the grammatical shape
>of the utterance, and would have thought that anyone who made that
>objection was being a pain in the ass by trying to interfere with
>his flaunting his purism.
>
>He would also heap scorn on anyone who proclaimed themselves to be
>an "alumni" of the university -- after they had departed, of course.
>
>It wasn't his purism that I admired, but his dedication to being a
>pain in the ass.
>
>GAT
>
>George A. Thompson
>Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre",
>Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Dennis Preston <preston at MSU.EDU>
>Date: Saturday, April 12, 2008 1:43 pm
>Subject: Re: "Like" abuse redivivus
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
>
>>  But "I want like a dictionary" does not have the grammatical shape
>>  that would allow the interpretation "I want something like a
>>  dictionary." Sometimes purists are just plain old pains in the ass
>>  (or should that be pain in the asses).
>>
>>  dInIs
>>
>>
>>  >---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  >-----------------------
>>  >Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  >Poster:       George Thompson <george.thompson at NYU.EDU>
>>  >Subject:      Re: "Like" abuse redivivus
>>  >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >
>>  >A former colleague in the reference room, a purist and an arrant
>>  >pain in the ass -- I admired him for it, of course -- if a student
>>  >said "I want , like, a dictionary of literary criticism", would
>>  >reply, "do you want a book that's like a dictionary, or do you want
>>  >a dictionary?"
>>  >
>>  >For my part, at least once I was posed a question by a fashionably
>>  >inarticulate student that contained the highest possible ratio of
>>  >"like" to substance words.  I completely lost track of the sense of
>>  >the question, and had to ask him to say it again, without the
>>  >"likes".
>>  >I too want to be a pain in the ass whenever possible, but this was a
>>  >case of necessity.
>>  >
>>  >GAT
>>  >
>>  >George A. Thompson
>>  >Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre",
>>  >Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998, but nothing much lately.
>>  >
>>  >----- Original Message -----
>>  >From: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
>>  >Date: Saturday, April 12, 2008 10:34 am
>>  >Subject: "Like" abuse redivivus
>>  >To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >>  Actually, it's never been gone, but thirty years ago "like" abuse
>>  was
>>  >>  a big deal among the "Death of English" crowd. Recent developments
>>  in
>>  >>  global warming and so forth have rather shunted it from notice.
>>  >>
>>  >>    On campus yesterday I heard a young university woman explaining
>>  >>  excitedly, "So, like, it was like I was like that's _impossible_!
>>  >>  And, like, she was like 'No! It isn't!' Like, then I was like it still
>  > >>  sounds kind of crazy like."
>>  >>
>>  >>    Admittedly this is not an exact transcription, but I promise you
>>  it
>>  >>  comes very close.  She certainly used "like" more densely (no pun
>>  >>  intended) than any other speaker I've ever heard.
>>  >>
>>  >>    I may have mentioned previously that the first time I became aware
>>  >>  of "to be like," meaning "to think or say," was as late as 1984,
>>  >>  though it has since been antedated by some few years.
>>  >>
>>  >>    JL
>>  >>
>>  >>   __________________________________________________
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>>
>>  --
>>  Dennis R. Preston
>>  University Distinguished Professor
>>  Department of English
>>  Morrill Hall 15-C
>>  Michigan State University
>>  East Lansing, MI 48864 USA
>>
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>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48864 USA

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