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Well I always thought it was specific to the Pittsburgh-ish region.
ETA: OK apparently I'm wrong and there's a "needs washed" map depicting pockets of this dialect all over the place hahaha.
OMG now I"M SHOCKED, TOO. Yes, dropping the infinitive is common!
Someone said the Scots omit the 'to be' auxiliary verb and that they migrated here as miners specifically in PA as the original source for that construction.
Thank you for posting that link. It's interesting, and as a bonus, it also explains that other annoying thing I keep seeing where they toss "anymore" into sentences where it makes no sense.
Example: "There are so many unwed mothers anymore."
The first time I started hearing "Like" overused in conversation was in the mid 80s. It confused me then, and still does. I wonder if when texting, they insert "Like" into their messages as much as they do in vocal communication?
My thinking is that "Actually" is a substitute for saying, "As a matter of fact. . . ", and one word is an easier and faster way of talking.
"Basically". Another of the overused fad words. A friend uses "Basically" to start nearly every sentence.
"Ok, so. . . ", this is overused by many who start their postings, not sure why.
"I mean. . .". My guess is that the speaker didn't think their first explanation was sufficient or understood.
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Ok, so are people like actually overdoing fad words, I mean, basically, what are they like trying to say?
"Like" gets me too. A close friend of mine was at my house for dinner one night with her kids, one of them a teen (late teens) couldn't speak without using "like" in between almost every word. She told him to stop it and he did! If more parents would call out their kids on these things, then maybe they wouldn't still be doing it as an adult.
I love Judge Judy, when she gets a teen or young adult, who uses "like" all the time, she will tell them they can't use it anymore and to answer her questions without it -- they can barely get a word out and still end up using it -- she goes after them again though. They don't even know they are doing it.
There are a couple of guys where I live who have a popular afternoon show on the radio. These guys are in their 30's (at least), and the amount of time they use "like" and "anyway" is mind boggling, and 90% of the people who call in are just as bad.
I have a friend who says this all the time, every time I hear it I want to slap his face (harder over the phone), you're right, it's mainly just giving up....here is the worst part of it -- I've found myself saying it! STOP!
hahaha, i've complained about that "i'm a little ocd" one extensively on city-data. And in real life.
i'm with you on the "literally", thing, too. Even my 86-year-old mother is picking this up. A couple of months ago, she told me that she literally died. I thought, really? Were you revived? Did we read your will?
I just heard "literally" misused again a few minutes ago. Someone in the break room was saying "...and my jaw literally hit the floor!"
Really? Your jaw actually fell off your face and landed on the floor?
The problem is, I am fine with...in fact, I love... figurative language. So why not just say "My jaw hit the floor"? That's a nice little descriptive device. But put that "literally" in there, and you just sound like a complete idiot.
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Some others....
