Like

[Shep]

I also had a professor in college that drove me crazy with a verbal pause. He would atempt to say OK, but it would come out sounding like: ucka. This guy was bad about it. One day a qustion from the class caught him offgard and he said ucka every other word for the rest of the lesson.

Let's just say I didn't learn to much from his class.

[Alex Franke]

Check it out -- there's even a wikipedia article on it!

However, non-traditional usage of the word has been around at least since the 1950s, introduced through beat and jazz culture. The beatnik character Maynard G. Krebs (Bob Denver) in the popular Dobie Gillis TV series of 1959-1963 brought the expression to prominence. The word finds similar use in Scooby Doo (which originated in 1969) : Shaggy: "Like, let's get out of here here, Scoob!"

Mmmmm-kay?

[pelligrini]

Where's that article at?

[Pappy]

When Mike attributed the beginning of "like" in slang, Maynard G Krebs immediately came to mind. Guess that shows my age!

Shaggy looks to be based on Denver's character.

[mschrank]

When Mike attributed the beginning of "like" in slang, Maynard G Krebs immediately came to mind. Guess that shows my age!

Shaggy looks to be based on Denver's character.

You're absolutely right...guess I didn't go back quite far enough! And I suppose that Maynard G Krebs would have been based on Greenwich Village "beatniks," so that's probably who should get credited with starting "like." Seems it's been around a long time, so like, it isn't going away anytime soon.

[JR]

I used to live a few doors down from Bob Denver.




I know, it's a fact that has no meaning, but I don't get to say it in context too often!

JR