Like... Why?

So, like... we like decided, to like, write our, like, blog (hello), on like, the totally, like overused, word, like... Like! Get the picture?

So why in the world do people use this word so much? And why is it so overused? And what the heck, does it like, mean anyways? This is the intrinsic question that Cucumber and I pondered while he was trying to teach me to sing through a sickened and highly untrained voice the day before my choir audition, but that's like... irrelevant. I don't even know how we got on the subject, but somehow it meandered in that direction. We decided to give ourselves a friendly slap to the face every time we said the word, and before I left both our faces were red due to the self-inflicted reminder. We noticed that in trying to avoid the despicably mundane word we actually thought more about what we said, and our vocabulary level jumped like... *slap* I mean... nearly twenty points! Who'da thunk!

First of all, people take great refuge in the word as an acquired and dependent way to bide time and organize thoughts before one says them. It's the "um" word in common talk. ('Um' is used instead of 'like' when one is trying to sound more sophisticated. Results vary.) If you look carefully, often the IQ level of the conversation is inversely proportional to the number of times the word 'like' is used. That is, the more frequently its usage the simpler the word choice is.

Second, when followed by the word 'was' it replaces the word 'said' or 'did' when you are quoting or relaying the speech or actions of another. "S/He 'was like...'" precede almost every similar sentence. Hopefully we don't write like that. Mr. Rich would probably die if we did. (And that's not a hint either, my fellow students... *wink wink*.) We seem so quick to get to what the person did or said we substitute an ambiguous word such as 'like' to replace the correct words which describe the experience. "Said, told me, did..."

Third is its usage in literature, which is probably Mr. Rich's favorite. You might recall that a certain literary device called simile uses words such as 'like' or 'as.' Her kindness was like a flower... His obstonance like an overweight donkey... (No stereotypes intended.)

The fourth usage denotes a crush, or affection for a person. "Do you 'like' him/her?" With so many meanings, I am clueless as to why we rarely mix them up. Aside from a, an, the, I, and you, 'like' probably preceeds all other words with the most usages per sentence. And of course, in our innocent high school years, it's never 'love' until you start dating. It's always just 'like,' which might say something about early relationships, but that's another topic which every person decides on for themself.

The fifth definition closely ties into the fourth, denoting a preference for, or favor towards. But yet again, it falls short of the complete or deeper word of 'love'. "I like that food." "I like being the boss." Usually when we say we like something, we haven't taken the time to understand why our emotion prefers that certain object or activity. When we love something, we can always say why. Why do you like that food? "Because it tastes good." That color? "Because it looks cool." That person? "Uhh... Well, that one may be slightly more thought out. But only slightly. (Emotions are confusing things.)

The sixth usage comes with an approximation of data to cover up for someone's lack of knowledge regarding that specific data set. "There were like, 20,000 leagues under the sea!" Or something like that. (Then again, what is 'that'?) When people use the word 'like' in this situation they don't want to count or actually figure out how many of something there actually are. "There's like, a dozen left." By doing this they leave room for error of approximately plus or minus 10% of the total, based on the BBMK Today estimates (a highly reliable source).

So, overall... the word 'like' is completely overused and too confusing for anyone to completely analyze, even though Cucumber is sitting next to me helping me write this. (Mr. Rich, this is a dual-blog-type-thing, so please give us credit!) Anyways, we 'triple-dog-dare' all of you to try and avoid the overusage of this overused word, whether or not you need an extrinsic reminder such as our not-so-effective slap in the face. Who knows, you just might get smarter!

Sincerely,Cucumber and Cauliflower, Inc.