Yes! 100%! As an English teacher, I think about this often. So many of our views on language are related to power: who has it and who it is being withheld from. Also, as you rightly point out, it would really suck if we all had to go back to using old English! Haha.
Absolutely agree about your comment on power! Reminds me of vocal fry, it’s so often negatively attributed to young women & no one ever bats an eye when a man exhibits the same speech patterns.
Back in the dark, mysterious days of 1989, my circle of friends came under fire from a particularly nasty teacher because of our use of "like like." You know, like, do you LIKE like him? Or just like him? Before any of us could respond another teacher, a very lovely man who seemed ancient but was probably just in his 50s, walked by and said, "I dunno. I think I'm in like but not really in love, you know?"
We all thought this was the funniest thing we had ever heard. Not that we actually got the joke. It wasn't until I got home and told my mom what had happened that I learned that kids in the 60s (maybe the 70s?) used to use the phrase "in like" like my generation was using "LIKE like."
I dunno. I don't really have a point except that, as you so elegantly pointed out, arguing about what is and isn't proper English, especially with regard to "like" has been happening for a long, long time. But, out of curiosity, is Gen Z using "like" differently than Gen X did? Besides the "like like" usage, we used the California beach bum (aka surf & skate, aka Valley Girl) intonations and wore T-shirts that said, "like, whatever" and "like, gag me with a spoon." What's Gen Z doing? Or do I have to tune in next week to find out? :)
It appears that use of "like" has been a decades-long struggle! Thanks for your observation -- off the top of my head I can think of one more example in which "like" is being used by young people, but I'm actually not sure if Gen X also used it in the same way a few decades ago. I'll have to double check on that. Stay tuned!!
You use the phrase ‘begs the question’. Begging the question is actually the name of a fallacy of logic. It doesn’t mean ‘raises a question’. If you are interested in the correct use of language, you will want to look into this.
Yes! 100%! As an English teacher, I think about this often. So many of our views on language are related to power: who has it and who it is being withheld from. Also, as you rightly point out, it would really suck if we all had to go back to using old English! Haha.
Absolutely agree about your comment on power! Reminds me of vocal fry, it’s so often negatively attributed to young women & no one ever bats an eye when a man exhibits the same speech patterns.
Back in the dark, mysterious days of 1989, my circle of friends came under fire from a particularly nasty teacher because of our use of "like like." You know, like, do you LIKE like him? Or just like him? Before any of us could respond another teacher, a very lovely man who seemed ancient but was probably just in his 50s, walked by and said, "I dunno. I think I'm in like but not really in love, you know?"
We all thought this was the funniest thing we had ever heard. Not that we actually got the joke. It wasn't until I got home and told my mom what had happened that I learned that kids in the 60s (maybe the 70s?) used to use the phrase "in like" like my generation was using "LIKE like."
I dunno. I don't really have a point except that, as you so elegantly pointed out, arguing about what is and isn't proper English, especially with regard to "like" has been happening for a long, long time. But, out of curiosity, is Gen Z using "like" differently than Gen X did? Besides the "like like" usage, we used the California beach bum (aka surf & skate, aka Valley Girl) intonations and wore T-shirts that said, "like, whatever" and "like, gag me with a spoon." What's Gen Z doing? Or do I have to tune in next week to find out? :)
It appears that use of "like" has been a decades-long struggle! Thanks for your observation -- off the top of my head I can think of one more example in which "like" is being used by young people, but I'm actually not sure if Gen X also used it in the same way a few decades ago. I'll have to double check on that. Stay tuned!!
You use the phrase ‘begs the question’. Begging the question is actually the name of a fallacy of logic. It doesn’t mean ‘raises a question’. If you are interested in the correct use of language, you will want to look into this.