“Like” just means, “Uh huh”

[Baron, Dennis E]

There's a new post on the Web of Language:

“Like” just means, “Uh huh”

Like has a new meaning. The word used to mean ‘feel affection for,’ ‘take pleasure in,’ or ‘enjoy.’ Now, thanks to Facebook, like can also mean, “Yes, I read what you wrote,” or just a noncommital “uh huh.”

Like was once a word that could be charged with emotion—as when Hamlet cruelly asks his mother to comment on the play that re-enacts the murder of his father: "Madam, how like you this play?" This gets Gertrude all upset.

Now like can simply mean, “So, what else is new?” Or even just, “I clicked on this.”

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Read the entire post on the Web of Language: http://bit.ly/weblan




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