Language change

[Carol Stoel-Gammon]

I haven't seen any mention of the "new" ways to report dialogue using
either "go" (the oldest and most widespread form), "like" or "all" as in:

... and then he goes "Did you see what Joe was wearing?" and I go "Yeah,
his outfit was rad"

OR:  ... and then he's like "Did you see what Joe was wearing?" and I'm
like "Yeah, his outfit was rad"

OR"  ... and then he's all "Did you see what Joe was wearing?" and I'm all
"Yeah, his outfit was rad"

A new use that I hear frequently around Seattle (and is probably typical
of the west coast) is the use of "way" as an intensifier meaning "very" as
in "way cool" or "way close." I even had a clerk tell me that the box he
was unwrapping was "way packed."

Carol Stoel-Gammon
Speech and Hearing Sciences
University of Washington