Diss "Like"

An interesting article appeared in a list of recommended reads in my bi-weekly newsletter from the Chronicle of Higher Education titled Diss "Like". I was not sure what the article was about at first, surmising that it was going to tear apart the ability we have to "like" things online with basic frivolity. As I began a simple read, I became engrossed in the author's description of a word that is destroying minds and language, all in one. As he describes it, "I have come to view 'like' as something more pernicious, a kind of carrier, like the flea that brings with it the plague. It is the byproduct of a culture that is loath to set standards, pathologically averse to confrontation, and prostrate in the face of precipitously declining verbal and writing skills."

Well said, I say. An interesting read if you are in the mood to be reminded of your own verbal inadequacies. I for one remember, very clearly, having to exert real effort to remove "like" from my every sentence. I am a better person for it, and hopefully more interesting to interact with.