Taking a twist on New Year’s resolutions, I’m making one for the new month. Starting today, October 1, I’m vowing to stop using "like" so much in conversation. A friend and I were discussing how much you hear it uttered in every day speech, sometimes as much as ten times in a couple minutes. Believe me, now that I’ve said it, you are guaranteed to hear yourself do it. And if you’re like me, you’ll be shocked at how much.

Today, while talking about whether I could keep a resolution such as this, I counted how many times I used "like" and stopped short every time I did it. It was so often, I almost rendered myself speechless. An exercise like this makes you keenly aware how much you use what are called "discourse markers." These are words or phrases that mark a boundary in speech, and usually serve no purpose. Other examples are "you know," "I mean," and "actually."

There is some disagreement as to whether the words are unnecessary filler, or are essential to conveying information in conversations. I see it as a little of both. Whatever the case, it’s annoying to hear it so much, from myself or others. Just listen to a teenage girl on her cell phone for five minutes, and you’ll, like, know what I mean.

Here’s how my resolution will work: For every time I use "like" in a sentence, I will drop a quarter in a jar. The way I see it, I’ll either succeed at ridding myself from my own annoyance quickly, or I’ll have a nice little nest egg to use for my next trip to Paris. Either way, I win.

If you want to follow along with my resolution, I’ll be keeping a daily "like" counter in my sidebar, updated each morning. I may not always be aware I’m saying "like," so if you work with me and hear me say it, feel free to point at the jar on my desk and wait for the clink. You might also want to buy me lunch, because I’m pretty sure in the first few weeks, I’ll be completely broke. Like, bummer.

UPDATE: The experiment is over. Click here to see how it turned out!

Stumble it!