Editing Like (section)

====History====
{{more citations needed section|date=February 2016}}
The word ''like'' has developed several non-traditional uses in informal speech. Especially since the late 20th century onward, it has appeared, in addition to its traditional uses, as a [[colloquialism]] across all dialects of spoken English, serving as a [[discourse particle]], signalling either a [[hedge (linguistics)|hedge]] indicating uncertainty, or alternatively a marker of [[focus (linguistics)|focus]] signalling that what follows is new information<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Underhill |first1=Robert |date=Autumn 1988 |title=Like is, like, Focus. |journal=American Speech |volume=63 #3 |issue=3 |pages=234–246 |doi=10.2307/454820 |jstor=454820 }}
name="Pragmatic Markers">{{cite book|title=Pragmatic Markers and Propositional Attitude |editor=Andersen, Gisle |editor2=Thorstein Fretheim|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing|year=2000|pages=31–3|isbn=9027250987 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jLbs6k1t9KYC}}</ref> Although these particular colloquial uses of ''like'' became widespread among young students in the 1980s, its use as a filler is a fairly old regional practice in [[Welsh English]] and in Scotland; it was used similarly at least as early as the 19th century. It is traditionally, though not quite every time, used to finish a sentence in the Northern English dialect [[Geordie]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/may/15/why-do-people-like-say-like-so-much-in-praise-of-an-underappreciated-word  |title=Why do people, like, say, 'like' so much? |last= Wolfson |first=Sam |date= 15 May 2022|website=The Guardian |series= |access-date=20 May 2022 |quote= But there are more uses than that, for example the Geordie tradition of finishing sentences with a like.}}</ref> It may also be used in a systemic format to allow individuals to introduce what they say, how they say and think.<ref>Mesthrie, R., Swann, J., Deumert, A., & Leap, W. (2009). Introducing sociolinguistics. Edinburgh University Press.</ref>

Despite such prevalence in modern-day spoken English, these colloquial usages of ''like'' rarely appear in writing (unless the writer is deliberately trying to replicate colloquial dialogue) and they have long been stigmatized in formal speech or in [[high culture|high cultural]] or [[high society (group)|high social]] settings. Furthermore, this use of ''like'' seems to appear most commonly, in particular, among people who were children and [[adolescent]]s in the 1980s, while less so, or not at all, among people who were already middle-aged or elderly at that time. One suggested explanation was that younger English speakers were still developing their [[linguistic competence]], and, [[metalinguistic]]ally wishing to express ideas without sounding too confident, certain, or assertive, use ''like'' to fulfill this purpose in the cases where they were using "like" as a hedge.<ref
name="Pragmatic Markers">{{cite book|title=Pragmatic Markers and Propositional Attitude |editor=Andersen, Gisle |editor2=Thorstein Fretheim|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing|year=2000|pages=31–3|isbn=9027250987 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jLbs6k1t9KYC}}</ref>

In [[popular culture|pop culture]], such colloquial applications of ''like'' (especially in verbal excess) are commonly and often comedically associated with [[Valley girl]]s, as made famous through the song "Valley Girl" by [[Frank Zappa]], released in 1982, and the film of the same name, released in the following year. The stereotyped "valley girl" language is an exaggeration of the variants of [[California English]] spoken by people who were young in the 1980s.

This non-traditional usage of the word has been around at least since the 1950s, introduced through beat (or [[beatnik]]) and jazz culture. The beatnik character [[Maynard G. Krebs]] ([[Bob Denver]]) in the popular ''[[The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis|Dobie Gillis]]'' TV series of 1959-1963 brought the expression to prominence; this was reinforced in later decades by the character of [[Shaggy Rogers|Shaggy]] on ''[[Scooby-Doo]]'' (who was based on Krebs).

Very early use of this locution{{citation needed|date=February 2016}} can be seen in a New Yorker cartoon of 15 September 1928, in which two young ladies are discussing a man's workplace: "What's he got – an awfice?" "No, he's got like a loft."

It is also used in the 1962 novel ''[[A Clockwork Orange (novel)|A Clockwork Orange]]'' by the narrator as part of his teenage slang and in the ''[[Top Cat]]'' cartoon series from 1961 to 1962 by the jazz beatnik type characters.

A common [[eye dialect]] spelling is ''lyk''.