My Love Affair With &quot;Like&quot;  A couple of months ago, I
spoke in front of a class taught by a crony of mine who teaches
at a local university. The presentation went well — I thought —
and the students asked questions that indicated that they'd been
listening, and no one threw any rotten fruit in my direction and
only one kid fell asleep. Afterward, my teacher friend told me
that I'd done a good job, but that I had a tic that detracted
from my credibility and air of authority: I have a horrible
habit of punctuating my sentences with a billion uses of the
word, "like."  Some of the students agreed.  "She says 'like'
more often than a valley girl," remarked one. Another said it
seemed as though I used to be smart, but that I'd immersed
myself in web culture so much that my mind had melded with it
(not true, although I do like to pretend that cats can talk and
I wish I could respond to most things with a disgusted GIF).
After this was pointed out to me, I started feeling self-
conscious about the way that