The 21st century, so far, has been dependent on technology and its advances. There is information on virtually everything imaginable. If someone wishes to learn about the whaling industry, rather than read Melville’s “Moby Dick” or an encyclopedia, they just search for it online, which is far from a bad thing.
The term “Google” has moved from a noun, to interchangeable as a verb. The beginning of the century started off with complete paranoia over whether computers will understand that 99 is the end of a century and starts back at 00. It is evident that the people in this century would surrender to technology and the result of this dependency has, for the most part, gone unnoticed.
The speaking pattern of the generation of my peers has seen a rise in simile usage over the past five years that has taken off at an extreme rate, and it can be attributed to the dependency on technology. This is just an observation that I have made over the past five years.
It does not take any statistical data to prove my thesis; rather, it takes only the right pair of ears. When out amongst other college students at Illinois State University, listen closely to your peers and their speaking habits. It has become commonplace that the word “like” is used far too much in their daily speech.
Three theories come to mind when I think of how the rise of similes came about; one of them could even be a product of another. The first theory is that, for some reason, the word “like” has become a social filler. Much like the word “um,” the word “like” could now be used as a word to speak while thinking of words to express.
My second theory is that the current college generation, and younger, has become too reliant on technology as a means of communication. Face to face conversations seem all too foreign, and that they have trouble conveying a direct meaning through speech.
The chance to overhear many young adults speak who live outside of the collegiate lifestyle has been small.Another theory could be that an overload of schoolwork causes our brains to become lazy when speaking to others. Therefore, instead of communicating definite sentences, our mind tells us to communicate ambiguous passive sentences.
Another interesting way to look at the rise in similes is that the word “like” is not a socially awkward word to use three times a sentence. Rather most do not even process the word at all as it goes in one ear and out of the other. If someone says “um” three times in a sentence, most make an assumption that they are insecure in the way that they speak, but the word “like” shows, almost, a superior confidence when speaking.
Listen to your parents talk amongst each other. They rarely use the word when conveying a thought, and then compare it to our generation. The word is used at an enormous rate. It becomes very frustrating and unprofessional to listen to.
There is a trend sweeping the nation, and it is the word “like,” and its usage is being set at an unprecedented rate. So like, do what your grade school teachers and parents like told you to do when you were like younger. Like think before you like speak. It will make for a better world all around.