Stuff like that

karenology — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:12:46 +0000

Even though I quickly tossed aside the idea of studying linguistics in college, I still watch words. Language is a living organism that evolves constantly, as different types of people speak it – your grandparents, your parents, your friends. Though language is in a constant state of flux, it is curiously highly resistant to top-down efforts at generation, as recently illustrated by Tyra Banks’ pained efforts to make smize happen. It’s hard to pinpoint what a word needs to accomplish in order to take root in linguistic consciousness, and I like it that way: otherwise, advertisers would have a field day. Likewise, it is also hard to kill words that have already taken root, a la Gawker’s mission to snuff out the word “douchebag”.

Lately I’ve been noticing a new filler phrase that has cropped up into the vernacular of friends and people who happen to be on the TV: “stuff like that.” Sometimes it’s used correctly in a sentence: “I want you to go pick up some apples, bananas, and stuff like that.” Oftentimes it’s used incorrectly or strangely, as in, “He was really acting uncool, and stuff like that.” It seems like a relatively recent thing; I haven’t noticed anyone really say “stuff like that” sans referent, prior to, say, 2007 or so.

Every single time I hear it, it is jarring. I’m not sure why. I’m not a stuffy old language maven. I am guilty of saying “like” and “um” quite a bit, which probably sounds like nails on chalkboard to people older than forty. Maybe it’s just because the filler phrase is relatively new, and I’m not quite used to hearing it just yet. Perhaps I am turning into an old grannypants, and I should just shove over and let language evolve again. And stuff like that.

Old timey stuff, like, that there.

New-fangled whippersnappin’.

bad metaphor » words

Stuff like that