Re: USAGE: 'like' as a referent to quoting

Stephen Mulraney wrote:

> A similar strategy which is used in Ireland - The verb "go" :
>
> So I went "can I put the lid on it?"
> And she went "no, it'll ruin it"
> And I went "that's crap"
>
> Can be used in any tense, as far I can tell. It seems so natural and
> obvious to me
> that I'm not sure if it *is* particular to Irish speech. Maybe all of
> youse say it too?

Nup---as far as I know, 'be like' and 'go' gained a similar meaning (or
at least popularity) at a similar time. I don't hear either all that
often amongst my peers of roughly twenty-to-twenty-five-year-old
Victorians. Or perhaps I hear it all the time and I think of it as so
natural that I don't pay any attention to it. I can remember it being
common a few years back, though. 'Go' is probably more common than 'be
like', though. On the other hand, I can't remember people retelling
conversations with quotes very often like that, so it may be that
they're really common amongst people who do that, but the people I speak
to don't...

--
Tristan.