Like: A History of the World’s Most Hated (and Misunderstood) Word

Dwell magazine editor Reynolds debuts with a rocky defense of the much maligned filler word like. Driven by her self-consciousness over her habitual usage (“What does it say about me as a person... if I say ‘like,’ like all the time”), Reynolds surveys the cultural representations and linguistic finger-wagging surrounding the word, including its “negative associations with empty-headed teenage girls” and its presumed lack of professionalism. She counters “the pervasive myth that it is a meaningless word” by showing like’s handiness, from making conversations flow more naturally (less like “a friendly chat with AI”) to “doing a tiny bit of caretaking” by softening painful blows. Along the way, she proffers personal anecdotes and cultural criticisms at varying levels of relevancy. Some, like her evaluations of Ice Spice’s 2023 E.P. Like...? and of the classic Valley Girl film Clueless—which “introduced the idea that just because a woman talks like a total ditz doesn’t mean she’s unintelligent”—are incisive. Others seem to drift from the like thesis entirely, including an extended interlude about My Cousin Vinny and a dive into Kamala Harris’s short-lived Brat era. Even with these diversions, Reynolds effectively mounts her larger argument: that people should embrace language’s changes rather than becoming cranky grammatical nitpickers exuding “hall monitor energy.” It’s a passionate, if occasionally wearying, love letter to linguistic evolution. (July)