WEBVTT

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So you're, like,

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talking to your friends or coworkers,

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and you notice this strange pattern.

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David Anderson: This happened,
like, five minutes ago.

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Abby Tang: We've been friends
for, like, like, 11 years.

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Medha Imam: And then I was like, "Hello?"

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And I was like, "Please,
can I have my ticket?"

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Irene Kim: I'm always weird
about, like, well, like,

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they wanted to watch it
together, and I was like,

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well, I don't wanna sit there with them.

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Narrator: Like it or hate it,

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you can actually hear the
word "like" everywhere,

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from celebrities...

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Kim Kardashian West: But,
like, if they ask about

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your lips, like, own up to it.

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Narrator: To movies.

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Cher: But people came
that, like, did not RSVP.

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So I was, like, totally buggin'.

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Narrator: And, yes, our own mouths.

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David: I say like all the time.

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Narrator: And most of the time...

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Abby: No, I do not notice
that I'm saying like.

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Unless it's, like...oh, now I do!

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Narrator: So, where exactly
did this annoying trend begin?

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And more importantly, why?

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Believe it or not, the way we use like

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can be traced back as far
as the late 19th century.

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Right here on the pages

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from the 1886 Scottish novel "Kidnapped"

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by Robert Louis Stevenson.

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But it wasn't until the 1950s

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that a certain group brought
the word to spotlight:

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The Beat Generation.

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The young, rebellious Beat Generation

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soon picked up the
interjection as a sign of cool,

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and it was used so frequently

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that it turned into a trope

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for any beatnik characters in pop culture.

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Spook: Like, how should I know, Jazz?

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Like, he never tells me nothing.

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Dobie: What's that on your chin?

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Maynard: Can't you tell, man?

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It's, like, a beard.

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Shaggy: Like, next time, signal!

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Scooby: Sorry!

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Narrator: The Beats
played an important role

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in introducing the new use of like

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to a larger audience,

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especially the younger generations.

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And 20 years later,

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when the word rose to
prominence once again,

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it wasn't from the rebellious
Beat writers in bars,

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but from the young girls

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in the malls of San Fernando Valley.

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And they had a name for themselves.

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Reporter: They're high-school
girls with a lingo,

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style of dress, and
philosophy all their own.

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They are: Valley girl!

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Narrator: The Valley girl was
a socioeconomic stereotype

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referring to the young,
upper-class white girls

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living in the San Fernando Valley.

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These girls were known for
spending days at the mall

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and dressing head to toe in pink,

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but what stood out the most
was the way they spoke.

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Woman: And think of the muscles straining

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and the jaw being, like, pulled out.

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Make it seem as if it's
rolling off your tongue.

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Let's try: Barf out, I am sure!

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Narrator: It even had its
own name: Valley speak.

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It was what linguists call a sociolect,

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a set of dialect, slang,

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and words used by a
specific class of people.

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It includes words and
phrases like tubular,

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totally, grody, gag me with a spoon,

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some of which are still used today.

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And, of course, the word like.

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But it was still just
a regional phenomenon,

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until a single record changed all of that.

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♪ Valley girl ♪

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♪ She's a Valley girl ♪

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Narrator: In 1982, musician Frank Zappa

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and his daughter Moon Zappa

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released their single "Valley Girl,"

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a novelty song written to mock

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and satirize the Valley girl culture.

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To their surprise, the
song was a massive hit,

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peaking at No. 32 on the Billboard chart,

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and was even nominated for a Grammy.

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The song that was meant to be a parody

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had ironically turned Valley
girls and Valley speak

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into a national phenomenon.

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Frank Zappa: I've been doing
this for almost 20 years,

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and this is the most successful record

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that has ever occurred,

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and the only reason that it's successful

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is because it's an accident.

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Narrator: The Valley girls
had turned from a stereotype

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that symbolized Southern California's

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shallow materialism

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into a cool, idolized icon.

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And the Californian entertainment industry

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only fueled its spread,

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this time in movies and TV shows.

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A year after the song's release,

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films like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"

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and "Valley Girl" were made

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to quickly take advantage of the trend,

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which then led to other movies and shows,

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like "Clueless," "Mean Girls,"

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and "Beverly Hills, 90210,"

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all targeting a younger demographic.

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Although pop culture has contributed

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to the word's widespread popularity,

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linguists have come to
believe that it might

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also be because of how we use the word.

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Abby: Yeah, everyone says like.

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It's just the way people, like, talk.

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Narrator: The word originally began

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with just two definitions,

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the verb from the Old
English "lician" meaning,

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to feel attracted towards,

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and the adjective from
the Old English "lich,"

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meaning similar to.

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But over time, it's not developed one,

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but four more definitions,

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each serving an entirely
different purpose.

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Like the quotative,

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used to quote our own
or someone else's words.

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Medha: She was just like,
"Hey, do you have PayPal?"

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And I was like, "I don't
have PayPal, I have Venmo."

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Narrator: A filler mainly
used for pause and flow.

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Irene: It was really just amazing.

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Like, I kept thinking about it afterwards.

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Narrator: An adverb,
also known as a hedge,

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that's used for approximation.

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David: This happened,
like, five minutes ago.

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Narrator: And what's known
as a discourse particle,

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to emphasize a point.

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Abby: She has this
bananas phobia of blood.

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Like, it's...

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she's completely, like, debilitated.

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Narrator: And that's not all.

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Recent studies have suggested

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that the word might also
have a social function,

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acting as a cue to seem
informal and friendly,

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another reason why it's so
prevalent among young girls.

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Over the years, the way we use like

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has been used as a prime example

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of how younger generations

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are destroying the English language.

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The internet is full of advice

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on how to stop saying the word,

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and schools have gone as far as

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to ban their students from saying it.

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But chances are, they won't work.

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If history has proven one thing,

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language evolves and spreads,

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no matter what we want.

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So as long as we continue to speak,

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how we say like is,
like, not going anywhere.

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[Irene laughing]

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Irene: I did think of
that, 'cause I was like,

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I think I'm saying like
a little bit too often.

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But, no, I was being framed.