I ask because I caught myself being a huge hypocrite again.
I’m a millennial and I criticized a Gen Z friend for her constant use of the word ‘lowkey.’
I then realized do I not do the same thing? I often say ‘sorta’ or ‘kinda’ when I do just mean I did the thing in the same way she uses ‘lowkey.’
No, I didn’t ‘kinda’ delete a guy’s account at my stupid IT job. I DELETED HIS ACCOUNT! I didn’t ‘sorta’ leave too late for work. I FUCKING LEFT LATE!
So I am a massive fucking hypocrite who needs to just let Gen Z chill and do what the want as I am the same flavor of asshole, but what about you?
Uhhh idk like um maybe
Why use more word when less word work
unga bunga, genius!
More word sometimes make talk pretty and precise, but sometimes opposite. Words hard :(
s** world 🐟🌎
Oceans. Fish. Jump. China.
Why more? Less word work
More? Less.
? .
For decoration, signalling emotional state, and to play with words.
It can subtly influence meaning
No, I mean I don’t use them needlessly or whatever. I kinda use them to sorta let my thoughts buffer.
I mean like it’s kinda like fuck man like you know like it’s kinda sorta like fuck man like fuck you know man like sorta kinda like fuck man like fuck man you know like it’s kinda like-
The curse-filler version of the rainbow wheel.
You have a good point there, English is a quite efficient language (which gets shortened even more, like saying “o” instead of zero) and this maybe leaves less time to think.
For some reason, I have an incredibly difficult time not saying like.
I bet if there were a word cloud of mymost commonly used words of all of my posts, “like” would be the sun in my fucking word solar system.
This is super common on the west coast of Canada (and I assume the United States as well.) Most of my friends from there say it constantly.
Filler words are normal, and every language has them.
It’s got California origins in the US, but it’s spread.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_girl
A valley girl is the stereotype of a materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocabulary, vocal mannerisms, and California accent features, who comes from the Los Angeles commuter communities of the San Fernando Valley.[1] A youth subcultural identity and stock character in American popular media, it originated in and is most associated with the 1980s and 1990s.
Valleyspeak, or valspeak, is a (stereotypical) California English social dialect and accompanying vocal features, best associated with Valley girls, though elements of it may be used by other demographics, including some men of a similar background (“val dudes”).[3] This sociolect became an international fad for a certain period in the 1980s and 1990s. Valleyspeak is popularly characterized by both the steady use of uptalk, certain vowel sounds, and its vocabulary. The vowel sounds are in fact part of the larger California vowel shift becoming more common in the American West and Canada, as well as elsewhere in the U.S. Certain features once associated with Valspeak are now simply mainstream in many American speakers born since the late 20th century.[4]
Features and qualifiers
- “Like” as a discourse marker. “Like” is used as a filler word, similar to “um” or “er”, as in, “I’m, like, totally about to blow chunks.” When “like” is functioning as a discourse marker, the word itself does not semantically change the phrase or sentence. Instead, it provides time for the speaker to formulate what they will say next. The word is always unstressed when used in this way. “Like” does not always function as a discourse marker in Valspeak. Consider the following two sentences: “It was like eight feet deep,” and “I think that, like, it is entertaining.” Even though both sentences contain the word “like,” they employ it differently. In the former, “like” serves as an adverb that is synonymous with “approximately”, whereas the latter “like” is a discourse marker, adding no additional meaning to the sentence.[15] Furthermore, “like” is frequently used to introduce quoted speech. For example, a person can recount a conversation by stating, “So, uh, I’m like, ‘Where did he go?’ And she was like, ‘I don’t know, I haven’t seen him.’”[16]
I’m always annoyed by the term lowkey, because in music, low key means lower pitch, and not low in volume. It’s essentially bass, and my brain cannot comprehend how it could mean what it’s supposed to mean.
i think you probably still have the meaning wrong, as i concluded it is the equivalent of “down low”,which to me is saying “don’t want this to go public”. you know, don’t want people to notice. sensitive topic. yadda yadda.
either way, over used. i remind my 10 yo when i notice him doing it. i point out such phrases lose meaning when overused. they become fillers, not information.
What if they mean it like Loki?
How do you feel about lowkirkenuinely
I think the meaning is still valid, bass is low key and generally lowkey, it isn’t overly noticed in a band or song.
Key is they term for pitch. I’d make more sense to say pianissimo if you actually want to communicate subtlety. I do get your point about the bass, it just doesn’t make logical sense in my head.
It’s a photography term for low lighting
Um, like, no?
You know what I mean?
I do, at the end of the day.
It’s a form of verbal punctuation
Fuck no!
Hmm, well, uh, maybe?
I do, but I try to catch myself from saying uh and um between sentences. Similarly, I’ve noticed I have a habit of breathing in sharply after I say something, which I’m sure no one else notices but I feel is still annoying.
I need my filler words!
IRL I often use too few filler words and get perceived to be blunt or direct. So I think there is a middle ground.
like, totally!
I’ve been pretty aware of fillers from an early age and had a similar problem
I come from low socioeconomic so often a few words was enough. As I have grown and travelled I have adopted fillers, esp when writing. I often feel like I use too many which feels like I am betraying my natural way of communicating. But this also boosted by my likely ADHD. It’s usually too much, or too little, I just can’t get that middle ground.
So, similar background, and my issue is that, as I’ve traveled, widened my circle, and now (in my late 30s) made my way into higher education; I somewhat refuse to use the expanded vocabulary that these more “sophisticated” circles prefer. I feel like I’m exposing myself to thee parts of society in order to bring the better parts of it and ways of thinking back to help build my preferred community, but knowing that the only why I can bring it back is if I maintain the “local lingo” if you will. Otherwise, I feel I’ll be seen as an outsider.
I think I may have gone pretty hard and to the left of what we were originally talking about…but this is the internet, I may have just needed to scream into the void. Idk, but that constant strive for a middle ground is a familiar feeling.
I understand that and unfortunately the industries I work in expect waffle and showiness. The weird thing is in almost every exit interview my bosses tend to mention the appreciated my frankness. It must just slip out. I do get tired of the pretentiousness. It may not be that for a lot of people but that’s how it feels, like a linguistic game.
You can adapt how you speak to the people you’re talking to. In fact most people do that somewhat automatically, but you can consciously encourage it to happen more fully.
I do to a point, but there is intended refusal on my part when speaking with those that I get the impression that they do so to be impressive, especially in higher ed.
In a big believer in knowing how to and practicing the ability to speak to the least formally educated among us is a more valuable skill than is using the longest and most sophisticated words I can muster. I know the words, and I CAN use the words, but why? Especially if it runs the risk of someone around me feeling like they can’t or shouldn’t engage due to societal pressures of inadequacy. Fuck that noise.
I have often felt like I don’t belong in the space I am occupying for similar reasons, I would hate to be the reason someone else felt that way.
It’s only when I see “lowkey” used to mean the exact opposite of its intended meaning, and without being sarcastic that I get annoyed. If it’s hella loud and/or flashy, that shit is not lowkey, kiddos.
Eh, think about “bad” in the 90s.
I’m not sure I see how the two are comparable here.
uhh NO!?
such words can be useful to signal being slightly uncomfortable about the fact… when not overused. i see your point, of course!
