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American Morning
Study Done on Teenagers Use of 'Like'
Aired September 18, 2002 - 08:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: If you have teenagers, like I do, or if you, like, spoke to one recently, you would like, know, what I'm, like talking about, like, when I say many of them have like this annoying habit, you know? Now a linguist has done a study on it, and, like, our Jeanne Moos, like, couldn't, like, resist taking a look at it, like, right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It as four-letter word used by a lot of like-minded people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd give it, like, a six.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is, like, so soft and nice.
MOOS: You find it bringing up the rear after sentence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sucks, it makes everything terrible, like.
MOOS: It inspires repeat offenders.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was awesome, like, he is amazing. His voice stays great, like.
MOOS: It was even title of a sitcom.
But some can't sit calmly and hear it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you are talking with someone and every other word is like, you just want to slap them.
MOOS: Leave it to a linguist to find a lot to like about like. He published a 31-page paper on it in the journal of semantics, complete with graphs and formulas.
(on camera): Are you anti-like or pro-like?
PROF. MUFFY SIEGEL, TEMPLE UNIV.: I'm -- the linguist in me is pro-like. It's useful.
MOOS (voice-over): Did she say useful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a filler when you don't know what you are going to say next.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's to make up for people's stupidity.
MOOS: But professor Muff Siegel learned to appreciate the discourse article "like," after hearing her teenage daughters using it.
SIEGEL: I don't see any books. She said, yes, they're there, there is, like, every book under the bed. For a linguist, that is an astounding sentence. My daughter used her little word like to weaken a strong noun phrase.
MOOS: Professor Siegel says "like" is often used as a hedge word to weaken, making it more meaningful to say, UNIDENTIFIED MALE:, oh, or well. For sentence, the sentence, he has, like, six others, give or take a brother, don't hold me to six.
Professor Siegel is known for using a ventriloquist puppet named Gregory Grackel (ph) at her classes at Temple University.
SIEGEL: I'm like assistant associate professor.
MOOS: Even Gregory used "like."
Prepped into our conversation with students.
SIEGEL: It's definitely descriptive in, like, a nondescript way. See, I just used it right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like, if you are trying to teach somebody something you don't want to use it. I just did it again.
SIEGEL: Back when valley girl-ism flourished in the '80s.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Man, he's just, like, tripindicular, you know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIEGEL: Linguist thought "like" would die out. But instead it spread.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALICIA SILVERSTONE, ACTRESS: The people came, that, like, did not RSVP. So I was, like, totally buggin'.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIEGEL: Professor Siegel says more young women use it than men.
SIEGEL: "Like" is used as kind of an emblem, a feeling of closeness.
MOOS: Her research resulted in articles and editorials, even a few angry e-mails. SIEGEL: "Her study is nothing more than an apologia for the inarticulate, undereducated."
MOOS: Another sarcastically asked what the professor would make of this sentence.
SIEGEL: "I'm, like, pregnant."
MOOS: Or how about this one.
SIEGEL: Professor Siegel's first name says just about, like, everything you, like, need to know.
MOOS (on camera): What's your first name.
SIEGEL: My name is Muffy.
MOOS (voice-over): Muffy could tell him where to put his discourse particle.
SIEGEL: They are, like, prejudiced against me. I think it's because I'm corduroy (ph).
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, Philadelphia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 18, 2002 - 08:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: If you have teenagers, like I do, or if you, like, spoke to one recently, you would like, know, what I'm, like talking about, like, when I say many of them have like this annoying habit, you know? Now a linguist has done a study on it, and, like, our Jeanne Moos, like, couldn't, like, resist taking a look at it, like, right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It as four-letter word used by a lot of like-minded people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd give it, like, a six.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is, like, so soft and nice.
MOOS: You find it bringing up the rear after sentence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sucks, it makes everything terrible, like.
MOOS: It inspires repeat offenders.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was awesome, like, he is amazing. His voice stays great, like.
MOOS: It was even title of a sitcom.
But some can't sit calmly and hear it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you are talking with someone and every other word is like, you just want to slap them.
MOOS: Leave it to a linguist to find a lot to like about like. He published a 31-page paper on it in the journal of semantics, complete with graphs and formulas.
(on camera): Are you anti-like or pro-like?
PROF. MUFFY SIEGEL, TEMPLE UNIV.: I'm -- the linguist in me is pro-like. It's useful.
MOOS (voice-over): Did she say useful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a filler when you don't know what you are going to say next.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's to make up for people's stupidity.
MOOS: But professor Muff Siegel learned to appreciate the discourse article "like," after hearing her teenage daughters using it.
SIEGEL: I don't see any books. She said, yes, they're there, there is, like, every book under the bed. For a linguist, that is an astounding sentence. My daughter used her little word like to weaken a strong noun phrase.
MOOS: Professor Siegel says "like" is often used as a hedge word to weaken, making it more meaningful to say, UNIDENTIFIED MALE:, oh, or well. For sentence, the sentence, he has, like, six others, give or take a brother, don't hold me to six.
Professor Siegel is known for using a ventriloquist puppet named Gregory Grackel (ph) at her classes at Temple University.
SIEGEL: I'm like assistant associate professor.
MOOS: Even Gregory used "like."
Prepped into our conversation with students.
SIEGEL: It's definitely descriptive in, like, a nondescript way. See, I just used it right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like, if you are trying to teach somebody something you don't want to use it. I just did it again.
SIEGEL: Back when valley girl-ism flourished in the '80s.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Man, he's just, like, tripindicular, you know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIEGEL: Linguist thought "like" would die out. But instead it spread.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALICIA SILVERSTONE, ACTRESS: The people came, that, like, did not RSVP. So I was, like, totally buggin'.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIEGEL: Professor Siegel says more young women use it than men.
SIEGEL: "Like" is used as kind of an emblem, a feeling of closeness.
MOOS: Her research resulted in articles and editorials, even a few angry e-mails. SIEGEL: "Her study is nothing more than an apologia for the inarticulate, undereducated."
MOOS: Another sarcastically asked what the professor would make of this sentence.
SIEGEL: "I'm, like, pregnant."
MOOS: Or how about this one.
SIEGEL: Professor Siegel's first name says just about, like, everything you, like, need to know.
MOOS (on camera): What's your first name.
SIEGEL: My name is Muffy.
MOOS (voice-over): Muffy could tell him where to put his discourse particle.
SIEGEL: They are, like, prejudiced against me. I think it's because I'm corduroy (ph).
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, Philadelphia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
