US Slang Expressions

[KathyK]

June wrote: 
>>So we went to see, like, a film?
 
>>And then, we went to MacDonalds, for burgers?
 
>>And it was, like, totally, awesome?
 
>>All the above recently said by my 14 year old daughter describing 
her Saturday afternoon to her hopelessly out of date mother.<<

Annemehr:

>I don't suppose it would be any help to point out that talking like
that swept across the U.S. in the *eighties,* and had probably been
old in California long before that?<

KathyK:

The word, "like," is, like, the bane of my existence?  I started 
using it, like, in elementary school because, like, everyone else 
was doing it?  And we continued to use it for, like, years?  The 
same with ending, like, every sentence as a question? (This still 
occurs, as Annemehr pointed out)

It has taken a great effort over several years to remove this 
offending word from my everyday speech.  Every now and then it still 
creeps in there and I want to bang my head against a wall for my 
stupidity in picking up this awful habit.  Especially since I still 
am unable to say "forever" without taking a moment to remove 
the "like" from the middle of the word before I say it.  Meaning, I 
think, "for, like, ever" rather than simply, "forever."

I feel bad for all the teachers who have to put up with classes full 
of students interjecting "like" into every sentence.  

KathyK