sentences with like

[ilko mitrikov]

i have come across these sentences
i am like working right now
she changes her clothes like every hour
what is the meaning of "LIKE" in them

 

[emsr2d2]

I [STRIKE]have come[/STRIKE] came across these sentences:

1. I am like working right now.
2. She changes her clothes like every hour.

What is the meaning of [STRIKE]"LIKE"[/STRIKE] "like" in them?

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

Please note my corrections above. You must start every sentence with a capital letter and you must end every sentence with one appropriate punctuation mark.

The word "like", in those sentences, is just a commonly-used filler word. It means absolutely nothing. You'll hear it from a lot of native speakers, particularly the younger generation. Your profile shows that you are currently living in the USA. In that case, I suggest you get used to hearing it. It's much the same in the UK.
On a bus the other day, I heard a couple of teenagers having a conversation that included "I was like in the living room and like my sister came in and she like grabbed my phone and like ran off it with it. I was like "Give that back" and she was like "No!" I hate her!" The first four are meaningless fillers. The last two ("was like") replace "said".

Please tell us where you found those sentences.

 

[tedmc]

I don't know where or when the filler word "like" originated but it sure is used a lot by youngters these days. It doesn't add anything to spoken English. Young people probably think it is a cool word to use but I find it rather irritating.

 

[Tarheel]

I have a feeling that if you show your annoyance about that they do it even more.
:-|

 

[jutfrank]

I don't know where or when the filler word "like" originated but it sure is used a lot by youngters these days. It doesn't add anything to spoken English. Young people probably think it is a cool word to use but I find it rather irritating.

I have a feeling it originated somewhere in the US some time in the 1960s. I don't have much evidence for this, however.

I don't think young people think it's cool. It's just a habit. I rather see it as a virus where once you're infected, it's extremely hard to shake off. I even use it myself and I hate the fact I do.

 

[Rover_KE]

I don't think young people think it's cool. It's just a habit.

... like starting every other sentence with 'So'.

 

[GoesStation]

I have a feeling it originated somewhere in the US some time in the 1960s.

Using like as a filler was a famous feature of American beatnik culture of the 1950s. There's a high likelihood that, like much American slang, it originated in black American English.

 

[SoothingDave]

So, she was all like "do you, like, like him, or do you, like, like him like him?"

 

[jutfrank]

Using like as a filler was a famous feature of American beatnik culture of the 1950s. There's a high likelihood that, like much American slang, it originated in black American English.

Yes, I suspected it may go back as far as the 50s.

There's a distinct difference in use between 'filler' like and 'quotative' be like. I think it's quite possible that the latter may have come from African American speech groups, but I don't think that's the case for the former.

 

[lotus888]

It goes way way back to the Hippie era and later in the Valley Girl era (LA).

The furthest I can project might be from Dobie Gillis (like wow, man).

 

[GoesStation]

It goes way way back to the Hippie era and later in the Valley Girl era (LA).

The furthest I can project might be from Dobie Gillis (like wow, man).

Dobie Gillis was using language from the late beatnik era. "Like" as a filler and an all-purpose intensifier was a typical beatnik usage beginning in the mid-Fifties.