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The word "Like"

Posted: 17 Jul 2024, 07:59
by Sam Bierstock
When writing my book, "Full Circle" I struggled with the proper punctuation for narrative attributed to a teenage character who endlessly inserts the word "like" into her conversation - as so many teenagers and young people do today. I was uncertain as to whether or not to place a comma before the word, after it, or at all.
An internet search was of no use since there are essentially no rules that I could find.
I eventually decided not to punctuate around the word at all since its use in conversation is incorrect anyway, and most young people just barrel through the sentence with no significance to the improperly inserted word. For example, "I had like the greatest time today! Everyone was so like excited."
I would be interested in how other authors approach this matter.

Re: The word "Like"

Posted: 27 Jul 2024, 23:04
by Blueberry Dragon
I'm no author, but as a reader, I'd probably prefer to see commas in there. For instance, I'd probably like to see: "I had, like, the greatest time today! Everyone was so, like, excited." But, I understand that it can be somewhat irritating to add the commas in - so much extra work. You should probably leave it to your editor's discretion! Hope this helps @Sam Bierstock.

Re: The word "Like"

Posted: 31 Jul 2024, 05:59
by Sam Bierstock
Actually very helpful. I can understand how it might feel a little better that way from a cadence standpoint. Thanks so much for your input