Apart from the general irritation and torture of sitting through Dhoom 2, one of the things that had irritated me, and quite a few others was Ashiwarya Rai going about saying 'like'! "Suhani like.....", this like and that like, like they where paying her by the word. In all my naivety I had exclaimed, "Who in the world talks like that?!"
Now after six months in the US, amidst students of all size and variety I have the answer. And if Aditya Chopra has been here for a month or more at a stretch, I wouldn’t blame him for what he has written. (Poor soul, God bless him!) People here actually use those many likes in their sentences!!! Like for example, today in the bus for all the 40minutes that it takes, two American guys were blabbering away to glory with like being used at least 40 times! And early morning when you were really hoping to sleep more, this can get on your nerves. It did on mine. I have been trying to overlook and not be irritated by this ‘like’ mania, but I have my thresholds. Everyday, more than half of the English sentences I hear have a like in it. And more than half of the times it is totally uncalled for. I don’t understand how that like helps the sentence. On any given day I listen to stuff like “You know like (pause) I got a like call from her…….and she was like so excited…and I was like what…….!”
Language influences in terms of developing an accent are not new. Though I seriously think that if you don’t want to get one, its difficult to get an accent. For me developing an accent was never a concern. Now I do worry though that by the time I go home in summer, I am going to like start talking like these people here. And end up irritating myself, and also like those around me especially my brother, who needs no reason to like pull my leg, and C, about whom the less said the better.
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12 comments:
can we like get together this weekend? I am like I should make up for like, the last weekend :-). Isn't it like, very irritating, when someone, you know, likes, using too many likes in sentences :-)
Suyog: So long as you continue to use like consistently, I see like no problem with meeting up. :)
Good one :)
This post reminds me of a similar problem! 'Like' is like 'you know' that is being used so many times and so much unnecessarily!
The guys who use a lot of "likes" and "you knows" probably have like a really low vocab,you know...They are like really stupid people who are like spend time talking gibberish,you know!
aparna: nice to see you :)
That you know thing is also another irritant. half of the people hardly get to the point with all those you knows.
arshat: i doubt if its poor vocab or just a style. bcoz even when they are really talking sense, they tend to use that like. i thing its become an integral part of their spoken tongue now, even they can't help it probably.
You watched Dhoom 2? Ho gaya kya, I thought you had better taste than that.
AK: Hey hi! kya kare, mistakes happen Now I know not to fall for roomate pressure :)
Nice.
Like really nice.
Supremus gave a link to this post of yours, and it is something I so identify with --- 'totally', to quote :D
Do check the video here: http://sudiptachatterjee.blogspot.com/2007/04/like-factor.html
Sudipta: Hey that video is awesome. Whoever that person is, tell him it was just perfect!
Nice article manasi. Funny too. I was at someones place once. And it was like their teenage daughter's birthday. They were having a party and their daughter's friends were like using like all the time. And we were like wow. Like how many times do these people actually use like? And they were like oblivious obviously. :)
Avinash: Hey nice to see you here! :)
I saw your blog, and I must say... wow!! :)
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