OT - Help me save the world
by Fox 71 on Nov 8, 2010 4:54 AM PST
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Bruins, I spent time over the weekend with some dear friends. They are nice people. They are fairly well educated, to the extent that anyone who didn't go to UCLA can be well educated. The time started well enough, but quickly became a nightmare and then got worse. Two things happened. "Like" and "goes" happened.
"Like" and "goes" are perfectly good words when used appropriately. "I like chocolate cake" is a good sentence. "Goes" is more versatile, and still a good word: "The cat goes outside." "I hate it when the cat goes on the carpet." "That shirt goes well with those shoes."
My friends didn't use "like" or "goes" appropriately. The conversation was horrible. I hadn't fell that sick since the Anita Bryant concert. "So I'm like, OK, but she goes, well, no, so she's like, what, and I'm like....." It went on and on, and my nausea got worse.
This may be the way many people speak now, but it is still wrong. Improper language skills are as indicative of a mental state as is anti-social conduct. The inabilty to articulate a complete sentence using real words shows either an inadequate education or mental slovenliness or even the absence of the mental capacity to communicate. At least that was the way it seemed to me when I was the person who interviewed prospective employees at various times in my working life. And that's the way it seems to me now when I heard grown-ups talking like children. I wonder when these people will learn to speak.
I think the improper use of "like" and "goes" is the new profanity, and it's time to end this now, before the abiltiy to communicate totally dies. Precision is important in communication. The citation for Brizuela v. Cal Farm Insurance is not like 116 Cal.App.4th 578, it is in fact 116 Cal.App.4th 578. The verbs "to go" and "to say" are not synonyms.
Help me put an end to this. Stop being polite and tolerant. Don't let people get away with misusing the language, especially "like" or "goes." Tough love is required. Start with your children. Ask them what they mean when they misuse language. Make it an automatic response when they misuse words. Interrupt people when they talk by telling them that you don't understand what they just said. Treat "like" the same way you would treat an f-bomb when someone says it.
I doubt if this will work. Tolerance is just too great. If it makes a person feel good, then two and two is five or six or like whatever. I'm so happy about our football team. We're like undefeated. We're rated like number 1. Both statements are literally true. Both statements are also totally false.
NEXT WEEK'S TOPIC: "THE CARE AND USE OF THE APOSTROPHE."
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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follow your own advice re: TV commentators
and don’t listen to them if they annoy you.
it sounds like you've been speaking with Teenagers
Teenaged girls in particular like to speak this way. I don’t know what it is. It used to be considered ‘Valley Girl’ speak but thanks to Television and Film saturation, it has spread.
I’m with you Fox, it is annoying. But, if not mistaken it is something they grow out of when they hit the professional world.
(I hope)
The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden
No, I think that's Fox's point
These were adults who didn’t, you know, like grow out of their like-goes stages.
I’ll say this, though, Fox. You know, one positive thing the like-goes epidemic has done for our society is to, you know, divert attention from the, you know, you-know epidemic of past years. The more time someone is liking and goesing, the less time they spend you-knowing.
Although, you know, it is like possible to go “you know” and “he goes” at the same time. This would be like a nukular explosion of misused words.
Now that's a scary thought.
The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden
You Know Jerime
I laughed when I read this reply cause it was totally on my mind when I listened to JA’s interview with (I think) Jon Gold posted a day or so ago. If only JA could score at the rate he uses ‘you know’ in a sentence he’d be like going pro. Seems like two years at UCLA doesn’t break that habit. I wonder if any of the geezers on this site remember a Speech professor named Phelps. Can’t remember his first name now but I took two public speaking classes from him in ’64 and ’65 and along with my high school typing class consider them as the most worthwhile classes I ever took. Maybe speaking class should be made mandatory to graduate.
"... he’d be like going pro"
LOL. In contrast to “… he’d be like going ‘pro’,” which would, you know, like just be somebody saying the word “pro.”
Did you see that Seinfeld stand-up bit, where he’s talking about peoples’ fears? In response to a survey asking “What’s your greatest fear?” death was something like number four. Number one? Public speaking.
So, Seinfeld says, “You’re better off in the coffin than giving the eulogy.”
The best way to counter it with kids
is to speak that way back to them. I taught for a number of years, and when I heard a kid speaking that way, I’d do the same. After like a while they like thought it sounded like really strange that I was like talking that way. I actually declared it a “dead word” in my classroom when used in that sense, complete with a tombstone on the board. Along the way I added others like umm, ‘cause, gonna, and wanna. By college, though, I think it’s just about like permanent.
Roses are red, violets are blue...f*** $C.
Why do you guys like further nauseating Fox?
I won’t do that to you, brother. :)
Baloney :-)
You used the word “like,” yourself. At least you didn’t say “Why do you guys like, like further nauseating Fox?”
It was intentional...
hence the :)
:)
by solidgoldsound on Nov 9, 2010 11:45 AM PST up reply actions
I'm already trying, Brother Fox
I turned around in an airplane to tell two girls to keep it down because I counted 17 “likes” in less than two minutes. And they said “That’s like, kind of rude.” I am not kidding. And I said “I’m just telling you what everyone else here thinks but is too polite to say.” That’s when a couple of other people piped in in agreement.
Here are some other lessons you should consider giving:
- Mind your “you’re”
- When it’s not its
- An intensive look at intents and purposes
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
It's Official: You are a Curmudgeon
You should just acknowledge your identity and change your name to Shrek 71.
Don’t believe me? If you answer “yes” to any (or all) of these questions, you are a Curmudgeon:
Do you think t.v. remotes are overly complicated and the buttons are too small?
Do you ask yourself, “What’s all the hub bub about new fangled cell phones?”
Do you think today’s cars have too many gadgets?
Are you frustrated by not knowing how to turn the pac-man song off when you open your web browser?
You're like, so mean
He’s not like totaaaally old.
I don't think you mean a 'curmudgeon'
But probably just a plain old fashioned geezer — which many of us are and which most all will eventually become.
Crap.
I answered yes to all but the last one. I already know how to turn off the pac-man song – mute the whole computer. (Thanks to either Fox or 66, can’t remember who, suggested muting things. Football watchin’ is a lot more enjoyable these days.)
Go Bruins!
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