This week’s column in The Kerryman newspaper.
Michael Commane
The Bertie Ahern doorstep stumble while canvassing in the Dublin Central constituency made the headlines. In true Bertie style he was making sure to agree with the woman with whom he was talking. In the times that are in it everything we say and do is easily caught on audio or video; it’s a nasty trick and Bertie was caught redhanded.
I’ve read much of the commentariat analysing what he said, which led to further discussion on Bertie’s penchant for the sorts of words he uses.
During his time as taoiseach, out canvassing one evening, a constituent asked him about a public issue that was upsetting him; Bertie agreed with him and said it was awful. The man was confused, rightly thinking; ‘but Bertie is taoiseach, surely he can fix it'.
After the recent kerfuffle Fianna Fáil MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú called on the former taoiseach to issue an apology. She went on to say: ‘Words matter and it is important that his words are clarified’.
Bertie has spent his life playing with words, it’s his talent. But words do matter.
I went back teaching full-time last November. It’s been an amazing experience. I have always been struck with how dealing with young people you are thrown into their words, their language and how they use words.
It has me laughing, indeed, mesmerised. Every day in school since November the word ‘like’ has been thrown in my face a zillion times. Honestly, it seems that the students cannot put one clause together without saying ‘like’ at least three times.
And those students, whose English is not their first language, have in some miraculous way learned all about ‘like’. It seems to be the first English word they learn.
Because of my hatred of the misuse of the word, I think one of my nicknames is ‘Like’.
The stupid/silly use of the word has grown legs right across all society. It has no socio-economic class boundaries. You hear the posh, the not-so-posh, the smart, not-so-smart, urban and rural class using it non-stop. On Saturday morning a Kerry sheep farmer on RTE Radio 1 laced every sentence with at least three ‘likes’. It is maddening. Or is it?
In a 2022 article in the magazine section of the Observer newspaper, columnist Sam Wolfson wrote on the use of the word ‘like’. He has a different opinion than I.
He wrote: ‘In 2014, a mother wrote to the advice columnist in this magazine with a dilemma. ‘My adult daughter is clever, pretty and confident.
'However, she cannot stop saying ‘like’ about six times in every sentence… I know it is not the end of the world, but it makes her sound stupid and uneducated, which she most definitely is not, and when she wants to return to the real world I worry this will be held against her.’ ’
Wolfson explained that the best linguistic studies today suggest people who say ‘like’ may actually be more intelligent than those who don’t.
Whatever about the experts, it’s driving me crazy and I have a sneaky suspicion we’re, once again, copying the Americans.
Cynthia Ní Mhurchú is correct, words do matter. If a word has no meaning why use it. Maybe I should ask Bertie.
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