The other day my pal Toni and I were waiting in line for a movie in front of this girl and her friend who incessantly used the word “like” in her conversation. Almost literally, every two to three words was “like” as if the girl just had some uncontrollable tic. Once I noticed it, I couldn’t stop hearing that word. I brought it to Toni’s attention so I wouldn’t be alone in my hyperobservance of this girl’s speech. I thought to myself “is ‘like’ even popular anymore?” Didn’t its overuse fall out of favor years ago?
Today I realized what word has replaced “like” in casual conversation. I was in a crowd of people (lemmings?) and overheard a young man peppering his speech much like that young lady did, only he was saying “fuckin'”. It occurred to me that this is happening more and more these days. I used to think it quite rude to use words such as this in mixed company because one never knows who might hear, but now I think, who hasn’t heard this word repeatedly, on a daily basis? It is coming to the point where the word “fuck” has lost its meaning, lost its power, lost its ability to offend. It is so much a part of our collective vocabulary now, how can it be considered vulgar anymore? I’m sure it won’t be long before a new (or another old one – the f bomb had been around long before the FCC censored it) word comes into play that will cause the ladies to gasp and the gentlemen to chuckle. The lexicon will evolve, people!