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

In a message dated 11/10/2004 9:57:02 PM Eastern Standard Time,
ataltanie@OCEANFREE.NET writes:

>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?

Both "go" and "be like" can be used around here (in the northeastern US).
For both, the "historical present" seem to be more common than the past tense.

There is one important difference: "I go/went" has to be followed by
something I actually said, but "I am/was like" can be followed by what I thought, or a
description of my attitude. E.g.,

"My professor assigned a huge term paper, and I was like, 'this is a totally
stupid assignment.' "  I probably didn't say any such thing.

Doug