Valspeak

In North America, especially among young people, it's common to use the word "like" as a vocalized pause. It began with "Valley speak" which is a stereotypical manner of speaking that originated in Southern California in the 70s.

Take the word like for instance, meaning: Indicates that an approximation follows, rather than a precise description or verbatim quote. "I was like 'Oh my god!'" means "I said 'Oh my god!' or otherwise indicated my surprise." Preparing listeners for less precision facilitates Valspeak's traditionally high speed. In this usage, "all" can be substituted for "like".

I eine timen min he vi hatt framføringa dei siste vekene, kjeempeinteressant å sitte å høyre på...
Anyways sist time var det faktisk ganske entertaining. 20 sekund inni framføringa si hadde han so snakka sagt ordet like sikkert 10 gonga! So ej tenkte; nei ditta her må ej nesten dokumentere, so ej begynte og telle, ditta her vart resultat: i løpet av 7-8 min hadde han sagt like heile 95 gonga!

 

Det verste var at det ikkje var ei Valley Girl!