Like is often just replacing um or other hesitations.

Also, the guy who wrote this really comes across as a twat.

Plot twist:

So-called “filler” is precise and meaningful.

It conveys an extra layer of messaging, describing attributes of the speaker and how they feel about the literal message they’re communicating — including their relationship to the listener.

It’s not my fault you’re, like, too simple-minded to get it, dude.

Junk speak, like junk food, encourages verbal littering. It has to be one of the worst things about life in Britain

How do you know someone is completely Nout of touch with reality?

You know when they say that the word "like" is one of the worst things about life in Britain...

Really? Is it though? Whenever onder news from Britain, its usually of the "we love fascism!" type abd you are bitching about "like"?

I'm with David Mitchell, and the hill I will die on is hating the phrase "could care less": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw

Old man shouting at clouds type shit

If filler words didn't serve a linguistic purpose, they wouldn't exist.

That's tantamount to a hot take.

As a francophone I must cope with a diaspora of language snobs. Their ilk systematically go die on the same hill: hubris (it's a Greek word look I'm of the privileged class fuck off shit eating peasants). Redundancy is a fundamental and necessary quality of the human language. It's how we set the table for communication and restore its message despite imperfect transmission contexts. Imprecision is a fundamental and necessary quality of the human language. It's how we approach and explore complex subject matters in real time we don't fully grasp yet. It can be how we leave some information out for various reasons as well.

So je vous emmerde monsieur de Bernières. The language will thrive and morph despite your protestations. The thesaurus and the dictionary will reflect these changes, not the other way around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCHLho2UYDI

Peak Grauniad

I know. Right! Don't get me started.

I find it grating when people say like in every sentence. Especially podcasters, who are paid professionals and I expect them to speak with a little more purpose than the average person. And yet....