Language and Generation

D'Arcy's "Like" Language Myths

• "Like" is just "like"; there is one "like" that is recycled repeatedly
• "Like" is meaningless; it signals a lack of articulacy
• Women say "like" more than men
• "Like" began with the Valley Girls
• Only young people use "like"
• "Like" can be used anywhere in a sentence

Vernacular Functions of "Like"

• Quotative complementizer (introduces speech)
• Approximate adverb
• Discourse marker (organizes speech into segments)
• Discourse particle (indicates attitude or interaction)

Kiesling: "dude" indexes a stance of cool solidarity and is especially valuable for young men as they navigate discourses of young masculinity, which demand masculine solidarity, strict heterosexuality, and nonconformity

Interactional functions of "dude"

• marking discourse structure
• exclamation
• confrontational stance mitigation
• marking affiliation and connection
• signaling agreement

What other ways are age, gender, social group, ethnicity, sexuality, or relationship indexed through the specific choice of a word and its pronunciation?

How does linguistic behavior create in-groups and out-groups?

How do attitudes about language affect attitudes about people?