Perhaps inspired by
reviewing Ancient Greek lately, I have been mulling over the question
of whether certain colloquial usages of the word 'like' could be
interpreted as mood indicators. I feel that, though these usages fall
outside standard formal grammar, they have a grammar of their own
that is interesting and expressive. Please note that I have only
briefly researched similar moods in other languages, and my mention
of them below is not based on detailed knowledge of them. I simply
wish to show that grammatical mood can be used to express similar
things to what I am describing.
Grammatical moods
colour our statements, indicating whether what we are saying is a
statement of fact, an opinion, a hope, a possibility, and so forth.
The most official types of mood are indicated by a change in the form
of the verb. There is not a lot of this in English, where almost all
verbs are in the indicative, or factual form, but we have a few
subjunctive forms, such as the 'were' in 'If I were a rich man.' We
produce the imperative mood by omitting the pronoun in sentences such
as 'Go to bed already!' We also produce a lot of shades of mood
through other sorts of indicators, such as constructions with
auxiliaries such as 'would' or 'may' and adverbs such as 'perhaps' or
'maybe.'
Consider the
following sentences: 'He was six feet tall.' 'Maybe he was six feet
tall.' 'He was, maybe, six feet tall.' The first is a plain
indicative statement: the speaker knows how tall the person being
described was. In the other two, the word 'maybe' functions as a sort
of mood indicator, making it clear that we are actually not certain
how tall he was. There is a difference depending on the placement in
the sentence. The second sentence suggests that the speaker has not
actually seen the person described, but is stating the possibility
that he might be that height. The third sentence suggests that the
speaker has seen the person, but it giving an approximate guess at
his height.
In colloquial
English, the word 'like' is often used in a similar way to 'maybe' in
the third sentence. 'He was, like, six feet tall' can have an almost
identical meaning to that sentence. It may also indicate dramatic
exaggeration. The speaker might be talking about a child who was
unusually tall for his age, but really considerably less than six
feet. Often there is a sense of improbability or amazement implied as
well as uncertainty or exaggeration. In this there may be a
resemblance to the admirative mood which is found in some languages,
and which shows the speaker's surprise at what they are reporting.
There is a
difference between this sort of usage of 'like' and the more standard
'like' as can be seen by comparing the following: 'She was like a
mermaid.' 'She was a mermaid.' 'She was, like, a mermaid.' The first
sentence states, indicatively, that the person resembles a mermaid.
It is a simile. The second sentence is also indicative, but might be
literally or metaphorically true, the latter being not indicated
grammatically in English, but only by context. The third sentence is
a modification of the second. Where the original sentence is literal,
the added 'like' indicates an uncertain or admirative quality. Where
it is metaphorical, the 'like' becomes a sort of tag to show that the
speaker is not stating the literal truth, but dramatically
exaggerating. It does not do this in the same way as in the simile:
there is a sense of juxtaposition between the subject and the image
to which she is being compared that highlights the idea of this image
being a conscious dramatic exaggeration. I would call it more a
metaphor than a simile in the way the subject and image are compared,
though perhaps truly it is neither, but a third or intermediate type
of comparison.
A sense of dramatic
exaggeration is likewise usually intended when 'like' is used in a
construction indicating speech. If somebody says, 'I was like, "Don't
go in there!" ' they are not indicatively stating that they said
those words. They may not have actually said anything out loud, and
are expressing their attitude or thoughts rather than actual words.
They may have said something, not in those exact words, but with the
same intent. They may have said those exact words, but are not
certain about it. They may have said those exact words, but wish to
indicate that they are dramatically recreating the way they said
them, often with some exaggeration.
These qualities of
uncertainty and recreation may be akin to the renarrative mood which
is found in some languages. The renarrative indicates that the
speaker is repeating something that they have heard, as it was told
to them, rather than as it happened. It can be related to the
admirative mood mentioned above.
It is possible that
the speech contruction with 'like' evolved from phrases such as 'he
was saying something like,' or 'I was thinking something like,'
shortened in casual speech. This does provide a fairly equivalent,
though clunky, formal English paraphrase of 'I was like,' in many
cases. I am more inclined to think that the use of 'like' inserted as
a mood indicator as in the mermaid example came first, so that 'I was
thinking,' became 'I was thinking, like,' when the speaker wished to
indicate that they were approximating and dramatically exaggerating
what followed. The loss of the specific verb 'saying' or 'thinking'
does not just simplify, but often indicates uncertainty as to whether
the words reported were actually said or just thought, or whether
they merely express an attitude as viewed in hindsight.
What is most
important to notice is that the use of the word 'like' affects the
way we view the information that comes after it. I think the idea of
a mood is useful in defining the way in which it does this. The use
of 'like' creates a special sort of space in which we can present
information in a dramatic, highly coloured way. It has advantages
over other ways of creating a similar sort of space: context and tone
of voice do not always suffice to avoid misunderstanding. There is a
definite playfulness to this space, and it is often used to create
humorous effects. Sometimes a 'like' is thrown in almost without any
meaning except a sort of invitation to engage in this sort of
discourse: to place the conversation in a space where the
participants can feel free to hold up a sort of funhouse mirror to
the literal, indicative world.
