Jun 29

Jun 29 Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English

Author: Valerie Fridland
Publisher: Viking
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

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Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

A lively linguistic exploration of the speech habits we love to hate—and why our "like"s and "literally"s actually make us better communicators

Paranoid about the "ums" and "uhs" that pepper your presentations? Concerned that people notice your vocal fry? Bewildered by "hella" or the meteoric rise of "so"? What if these features of our speech weren't a sign of cultural and linguistic degeneration, but rather, some of the most dynamic and revolutionary tools at our disposal?

In Like, Literally, Dude, linguist Valerie Fridland shows how we can re-imagine these forms as exciting new linguistic frontiers rather than our culture's impending demise. With delightful irreverence and expertise built over two decades of research, Fridland weaves together history, psychology, science, and laugh-out-loud anecdotes to explain why we speak the way we do today, and how that impacts what our kids may be saying tomorrow. She teaches us that language is both function and fashion, and that though we often blame the young, the female, and the uneducated for its downfall, we should actually thank them for their linguistic ingenuity.

By exploring the dark corners every English teacher has taught us to avoid, Like, Literally, Dude redeems our most pilloried linguistic quirks, arguing that they are fundamental to our social, professional, and romantic success—perhaps even more so than our clothing or our resumes. It explains how filled pauses benefit both speakers and listeners; how the use of "dude" can help people bond across social divides; why we're always trying to make our intensifiers ever more intense; as well as many other language tics, habits, and developments.

Language change is natural, built into the language system itself, and we wouldn't be who we are without it. Like, Literally, Dude celebrates the dynamic, ongoing, and empowering evolution of language, and it will speak to anyone who talks, or listens, inspiring them to communicate dynamically and effectively in their daily lives.

TL;DR Review

Like, Literally, Dude is a joyfully fun, delightfully nerdy book that I absolutely loved. In the running for a top nonfiction of the year for sure!

For you if: You’re a word nerd and/or love having fun facts to whip out at parties.

Full Review

From the moment Like, Literally, Dude landed on my radar, I knew I had to read it. John McWhorter’s Words on the Move and Gretchen McCulloch’s Because Internet — both of which explore how language changes and uncover some of the shifts happening right now — are two of my favorites. Add in a little bit of feminism, and you’re calling my name.

In this book, Valerie Fridland not only gets delightfully nerdy about linguistics, with whole chapters on the history and fascinating unconscious use cases of um/uh, dude, literally, and more. She also explains how and why women and young people tend to lead the way in language shifts — and why they’re often criticized for it. Plus, Fridland is witty and freakin’ funny (PSA, there’s also a chapter on our use of -in vs -ing!) and doesn’t pass up the opportunity to take a swipe at bigotry.

If you need some convincing of how fun and fascinating this one is, here’s my favorite party fact I walked away with: The way people use “literally” to actually mean the opposite of that word? Very normal! This is a natural evolution of words called intensifiers, as they come to be used simply to signify that intensity and lose their attachment to the original definition. Other common examples that don’t make us clutch our pearls: “horribly handsome,” “terribly funny,” etc. I LOVE IT.

Pick this up! You won’t regret it!