Like (as a filler) — means?

Means: Nothing; a pause, a hedge, or a quotative ("I was like…").

Like (as a filler) — came from?

Came from: Beatniks in the '50s; the Valley made it a habit.

Slang Files · 🏄 Valley & surf

G33Z3R Slang Files · 1982–1999

When did people start saying "like" every other word?

Like (as a filler)

Means: Nothing; a pause, a hedge, or a quotative ("I was like…")
Came from: Beatniks in the '50s; the Valley made it a habit
Peak: Never ended
Still around?: In every sentence spoken by anyone under sixty

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The Valley didn't invent like as a filler, the beatniks did, but the Valley made it the way a generation told stories: I was like, and she was like. Teachers waged war on it and lost.

It's the most successful slang on this list because it stopped being slang. Linguists write papers about it now.

Sources: Wiktionary — Like (as a filler)

Who did you say "Like (as a filler)" to? Tell us where and when.

The drive, the dance, the heartbreak, the summer. Add a memory of Like (as a filler).

When did people start saying "like" every other word?

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Who did you say "Like (as a filler)" to? Tell us where and when.

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