Like it or lump it... like all words change over time.

This morning as my #1 kid added a new word to his repertoire (to my shame it came straight from Ben10 via Cartoon Network)... and the word was 'like'... but not used in the traditional sense of the word, but in the more youthful sense where you just like add it into like the sentence that you are like using because like it sounds like really good. Whilst I was the word grated on my nerves as I heard him say it, I was instantly transported back to my father giving me a hard time about it when I was in my teens.

So it has prompted me to write this post... not just in the exploration of the word 'like', but generally about how words change over time. It's what excites me about language; the way it evolves and how a generation can have such an impact on how words are used.

According to the Oxford Dictionary 'like' has a few meanings... which depending on your interpretation actually includes the way my son used it… although I am sure it wasn’t in there when I was a teenager and I am sure it doesn’t mean to add it more than once to a sentence. The origins of the word date back to the 13^th and 14^th centuries, with the 1500s seemingly being the first use of the word in its form as it is today. So it’s been around for a very long time… no wonder the meaning is flexible and Generation X started playing with its usage.

So how does language evolve in this way? The abundance of International television, mainly from the USA has had an enormous impact on the Australian vernacular. However, it seems the influence on the use of words or expressions can come from varying influences. For example, according to Angus Stevenson (www.askoxford.com) the expression 'go pear shaped' (meaning to go wrong) supposedly comes from RAF slang, first written in the early 1980s but most probably in use a few decades before that in reference to the shape of a fighter plane after it has crashed into the ground or a novice's attempt at a perfect circle in the air.

Considering the way communications has vastly changed from the early 80s, the impact online communication will be having on language would be significant. Just the impact of the TXT message has change the way I write emails and communicate with friends, family and colleagues. I've been told I am the queen of the succinct TXT msg and I am secretly proud of that.

Another avenue in the online world has been the advent of social media, more specifically the requirement to get our point across in 140 characters; delivered instantly to many. So perhaps my son or one of his generational peers will be studying the impact all this has had on language in 20 or 30 years time.

Whilst many have been scared or pessimistic about the impact technology is having, handled in the right way I see enormous benefits not just to you in your immediate community but for the world, in bringing us closer to share and communicate. Whilst there are segments of the technology world that have valid opponents, I am hoping the greater good will prevail and the impact my grandchildren (gosh I hope I get some one day) will experience will only enhance their communication and the way they use words and language. Perhaps they will more easily be multilingual... or perhaps even a new language will evolve, and I am not talking techno speak, but with common use words in one language being used by those of other nationalities. Of course, we have plenty of that already in existence… some words are just better said in their original language: hors d’oeuvres, hasta la vista (if you’re a Terminator fan), à la carte or annus horribilis.

I look forward to watching how my native tongue evolves and as I sit in my rocking chair trying to understand my grandkids in 30 or so years I hope I take as much pleasure in learning and using it as I do now.