Like You Know What I Think

It almost goes without saying that in daily conversation most people begin their speaking with one of these three openings. I shudder whenever somone with whom I am speaking begins with one of these. I can usualy guess that I am about to be bored by what follows. So in that spirit I have actually sat down and thought about these three. Why? Here are a few observation on the Like you know I think issue.

When someone says "Like ,you know , or what I think" I almost immediately tune them out. Why? First, Like I really don't. The prevalence, the repetitious use of 'like' is pandemic. If you like (sorry about that) you may consider 'Like" a mental hiccup which most people can't control or to be more gross ,linguistic. flatulence Something is or is similar to.. Consider , she was like tall. Was she tall or wasn't she. Then there is "You know". Allow me to turn this around and inside out just as an intellectual or linguistic exercise. Many people begin whatever they are about to say with the independent clause: "You know. " Its intent is to attract the listener. Like I know something and the speaker is going to share what he-she knows that I know. How nice! But what a waste of time! Actually if I know why should I be listening to you and why the heck are you saying this to me, because as you said "You know" implying that I already knew. . Obviously you think I know why repeat it, I know it. It's complimentary that you think that I know! Then there is the oxymoronic " I think" if you're using this I have to say you probably don't think . If you are guilty of the first two in this trilogy then what "I think" (meaning what you the speaker thinks)has no importance. Or to misquote a much better mind than mine, "The brain is an organ with which we think we think."

What is responsible for this? Is it laziness, or just poor language skills. I assert it is both To digress I will consider language instruction (actually all instruction in America's public school). First, language instruction in American schools which is primarily responsible. Curious that SAT language scores began to drop in 1964 and disallowing for revision to make the scores look better I cite the move away from the teaching of Latin. When Latin left the curricula of academic programs, we all began to get dumber and demonstrate poor speaking and writing skills. Having taught English for decades I can still hear the echo of little minds repeating their litany. whenever I began or continued on my infamous diagraming instruction. "When are we ever going to use this?" Like you never know! Perhaps if you knew the parts of speech and the various functions of like, you'd refrain from the peremptorial misuse of like. Like a virgin is a prepositional phrase and I give Madonna credit because she really said something that I liked . Oops, there he goes using like as a verb.. my goodness he's boring the shit out of me.

On a more cynical level- So what? You know what I think. Yes I do.. I think you think with borrowed ideas, parroting whatever programed knowledge the educational elite peddle. Oh, my god I've gone tangential.

Now to conclude.. actually this isn't going to be a conclusion after all because I intend to come back to this again and again. The educationalese for coming back to a topic is 'revisit".

Readers, fans, relatives, indifferent observers, proponents of the apocalypse and any others, this blog is dedicated to Newspeak which is actually NoSpeak. The first casualty in America's educational system is actual teaching. I say this because it's true. What has replaced the 3 R's is diversity, sensitivity training and values clarification- or if you're not a fan -sheer bull shit: programed mind control on a level that even Orwell would shutter to utter. Small wonder the media (and those bastards are the first to compare American schools to those in other countries). Do you think the Chinese care about diverstity, about self-esteem, values clarification or any of the other hot topics American schools adopt rather than teach. Small wonder that foreigners who speak English do not split infintives, or use incorrect pronoun cases or mangle verb tenses. They are taught English grammar something that has gone out of vogue and which the great minds who write articles about American education are now pushing. I sense a conspiracy here or it may just be an accident. First the educational elite pushes (as in drugs if you're cynic like me) one thing and when it fails, the educrats go back to basics. It's a testament to their brillance. Excuse the metaphor, they upset the apple cart and then pick up the apples and shine them. Look see it's all new, it's ours.

Like you know I'm sorta finished with this for today. I'll get back a little later about something called Values Clarification, a program I was involved with in the Baltimore City Schools. You won't want to miss this. Unless of course like you know what I think.. which you can't.