The Language of Teens

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-22-2003
The Language of Teens
20
Thu, 11-10-2005 - 7:06pm

So like, the other night, I was like, talking to my teen DD, and she was like, telling me about something that like, happened at school? And she was like, using the word 'like', like about 30 million times, and like, every sentence was like, a question? and not, like a statement? It was like, driving me bonkers? So I like, couldn't really focus on her story because like, all I kept hearing, was like? like? like?

So I like, asked her if she could like, tell me the same story, without like, using the word 'like' so much? And she like, couldn't do it? She was like, OMG! I like, didn't realize I like, said that so much?

Is she like, the only one who does this? Or is it like, common for teens to talk like this? Do they like, realize how like, totally uneducated they sound? I have actually like, heard some adults do like, the same thing?

Aaaaaccckkk!

Like, how do you get it to like, stop?

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Avatar for elc11
Community Leader
Registered: 06-16-1998
Thu, 11-10-2005 - 7:57pm

O-M-G!! Your post like totally cracked me up! That is like sooo random!

I can hear your dd talking right now... with the inflections that make every sentence sound like a question. My dd used to have a friend that talked like that. It was a little bit of the old Valley Girl speak and a little bit of 'Nado talk and I guess the rest was just teen. My dd didn't really pick it up fortunately. The other girl was very bright and well educated and a serious overacheiver academically, it probably helped her sound more like a "regular" kid. She was around 14-15 when she spoke like that and she outgrew it sometime during HS.

Did your dd start talking like that since she got to HS? Maybe she hears the girls at school doing it. If she hears it all day it might be tough to break the habit.

It should be interesting to hear how many other teens talk like that---I thought it was a regional speech pattern but maybe not.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-20-2005
Thu, 11-10-2005 - 8:46pm
The girls in this area don't do use alot of likes of questions. They tend to use "dude" "duh" and each of those are NOT one syllable words - at least three syllables in the south.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-17-2005
Thu, 11-10-2005 - 10:03pm

oh, Julie that is like, too funny. But honestly, my dd doesn't talk that way? But I do remember like a few years ago that alot of girls around here, like, used to talk that way? Including some of my friends? And like you wouldn't believe how easy it gets to like start talking that way? I used to like talk that way, and eventually somehow I stopped? Don't ask me how?

I think its a "valley girl" thing?

Thanks, you made me laugh!

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2004
Thu, 11-10-2005 - 10:16pm

My parents didn't break me out of that habit, but a friend of their's did! He was very intelligent, and because so, I respected him a great deal. He simply wouldn't have a discussion with me if I excessively used the word "like," and because I enjoyed

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-22-2003
Thu, 11-10-2005 - 11:04pm

DD came home tonight and was telling about her day using VERY normal language. It was pleasant indeed.

I think what happens is that she will come home from school very up, very excited, and very anxious to tell me about her day and ...

shestartstalkingreallyreallyfastanddoesn'trealizeshe'stalkinglikeawannabevalleygirland
justgoesonandonandonandIthinkalotofthegirlsatherschooltalkthatwaysoshedoestoo.

Tonight she was pretty tired and cold so the chatter was much slower and much easier to understand! I can be thankful at least she's still talks to me and wants to share so much!

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-16-1999
Thu, 11-10-2005 - 11:08pm

Like, OMG!!!!! (High pitched squeel) Like, were you like, talking to MY daughter?

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-15-2004
Thu, 11-10-2005 - 11:34pm

hehe, you guys are funny.

I do have a tendancy to use like, and I talk in question excessively, but I try to stop it.
My friends and I talk like that when we get in our giggly hyper moods. Not all the time, I swear, we can be serious. I was at my friend's house today, and her mom was watching ER. You should have heard us when we realized Shane West was on it. "OH MY GOSH HE IS SO FREAKING HOT!" Followed by high pitched screams and more rounds of OMG! So hot!

I'd probably deny it was me if I heard it on tape, haha.



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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-21-2005
Fri, 11-11-2005 - 8:32am

I get lots of fast talk and dramatic OMG squeals, but she has dropped the "likes" (pretty much) and she doesn't end her sentances in questions. Remember Valley Girls???? Maybe its totally a California thing???

I am always asking her for definitions of teentalk. We had a hilarious discussion not too long ago about the difference between "hot" "hott" and "cute" guys. Then there's "random", which can now be an adjective OR a noun.

The one that really bugs me is "devastated". I even hear adults say this. "She was DEVASTATED when she did not get the lead" If dd catches herself saying it (because she knows it bugs me), she'llsopt and say "I know. The people in New Orleans (or Iraq or rwanda are devastated." Sorry for the rant .... it's just that many words have lost their meaning through careless use. In our day, the word we destroyed was "excellent" which came to mean "anything even remotely nice". The word replacing that now is "awesome", which used to mean .... well, awesome.

I'm climbing off my soapbox now...

jt

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-13-2004
Fri, 11-11-2005 - 10:18am

LOL...

Alas, the teenspeak of yesteryear was much more creative....

yer harshin my mellow, man.... :-)

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-21-2005
Fri, 11-11-2005 - 10:21am
Oh dear - you are either way before my time (doubtful) or way after .... I have NO idea what that means. Can you offer a translation?
jt

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