I Mean, Like, You Know

We are all guilty. We have used these words and phrases dozens, and in some cases, hundreds of times a day in conversation. They unnecessarily litter our communication with friends, family, and co-workers. Most of us have grown so accustom to hearing them, that we don’t even notice anymore. But, they can drive some of us crazy.

They are conversation fillers that are redundant, and can make the beautiful English language sound like nails on a blackboard. Maybe I’m being a language snob, and should find more important things to write about. But since my career was built around the use of clear, concise writing and oral presentation, I feel I have to speak out.

I have done some research. Dictionary.com says the use of “like” may have started with Moon Unit Zappa’s 1982 song “Valley Girl”. Dictionary.com also says it may have started almost a hundred years earlier in Robert Lewis Stevenson’s 1886 novel “Kidnapped”. You can find this sentence, “What’s like wrong with him?” Who thought you would see those two names in the same paragraph?

You all know about “You Know”. English.stackexchange.com says, “It is a message-free pause token. It is a vague signal for affirmation, as in, “do you understand what I’m referring to?”, but it’s mostly just filler while the brain catches up with the mouth.” We all say this, including me, even though I try to catch myself. You can even catch President Obama saying it when he is answering questions. Listen carefully. He almost says it under his breath as if he’s trying to sneak it by the grammar police.

And, then there is “I mean” or the more annoying “You know what I mean?” at the end of a statement. This seems to require you to say, “Yes” before you give your answer, or “No, I don’t know what you mean tell me again.”

If you want to hear some of the worst offenders, just listen to any sports talk radio program. I have counted dozens of “I mean, like, you knows” in a matter of minutes.

I understand that language evolves over the years, and we don’t speak the way people did a hundred years ago. But these words are unnecessary and clutter our speech and maybe even our thinking. Just think of all the time we waste in the course of our daily conversations using these terms. Some might think this problem, if you think it’s a problem, may have gotten worse with the rise of social media and texting. Everything is shortened. It’s almost a code that caters to the shorter modern attention span. Tell me quickly. I want to move on to the next big thing. But just think how much more quickly we would get to the point if we left out, “I Mean, Like, You Know.”

In “Pygmalion”, George Bernard Shaw wrote, “…just think of what you’re dealing with. The majesty and grandeur of the English language; it’s the greatest possession we have. The noblest thoughts that ever flowed through the hearts of men are contained in its extraordinary, imaginative and musical mixtures of sounds. And that’s what you’ve set yourself out to conquer, Eliza. And conquer it you will.”

I mean…like…could you say it any better…you know what I mean?