Portrays modern youth speech patterns as irritating, lazy, and socially degrading
The author uses mocking tone, sarcasm, and hyperbolic comparisons to frame youth language—especially the use of 'like'—as a sign of cultural decay and personal inadequacy. This reflects a polemical, elitist stance rather than sociolinguistic understanding.
“I once went to speak to a sixth-form group where one perfectly intelligent young woman said “like” so much that it took her five minutes to say something that should have taken five seconds. The effect was embarrassing and bewildering.”
