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Look,

Look,

(OP)
Has anyone else noticed the trend in the TV news where an interviewer or interviewee repeatedly starts their sentence with "Look" to emphasize their point?

For example, a lawyer speaking to a news anchor may say something like, "Look, Michael Jackson may have slept with children, but the prosecution couldn't prove their case."

I started noticing this ever since 9/11; maybe it's just that I started watching the news more.  But, look, it has come to be quite an annoyance.

RE: Look,

Look, I hear what your saying.  I find that the greatest culprits are sportsmen when being interviewed.

RE: Look,



I used to say "Listen,..." before I spoke.  My friends were generally pretty quick to interrupt with "I AM listening!..."

Needless to say, I broke the habit in a short time.

RE: Look,

I don't know why you would have just started to hear "Look..." after 9/11.  Maybe that's when you upped your intake of news "discussion" shows?

It's been around for a very long time.  There's a famous quote from "The Way We Were" about not starting a sentence with "Look".

Hg

Eng-Tips guidelines:  FAQ731-376

RE: Look,

(OP)
It is when I started watching more, yes.  But it just seems that more and more people are using the term lately.

RE: Look,

Look is quite common as is beginning a conversation with 'You know, ...' If they already know then why are you bothering to tell them? It's common in other languages too apparently.

corus

RE: Look,

Did "look" evolve from "like"?  Remember how young people talked in the sixties? (I was a little young, but I watched TV).  They would say, "Like, cool, man."  Many sentences started with "like."

DaveAtkins

RE: Look,

Here’s another I hear on TV. when a reporter is doing a article “ I understand that..."

RE: Look,

Or how about "Please understand..."

RE: Look,

OR...ending a sentence with " do you know what I mean?"

Yes, I know what you mean...I only LOOK this stupid!

I didn't have a choice. When the Lord was handing out looks, I thought he said books. I said give me a funny one!

RE: Look,

I havn't noticed. I scan the news. The pictures tell me enough to generally know what is happening. The newscaster's voice is just rambling to me, I don't listen to them much. Most of the time, I already know what is in the news first from the newpaper or the net, unless it is "breaking news".

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)

FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

RE: Look,

Lookit, people constantly search for emphatic words to make them seem forthright and straight talking.

RE: Look,

I'd much rather hear "look" and "like" than "um".

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: Look,

The word "like" sometimes replaces the word "says" or "said".

RE: Look,

Look's gotten boring.  Now I like to say look-e-here.  

RE: Look,

(OP)
mbph, you may want to use the more formal, "look-e-here, ya'll."

RE: Look,

Or you could use the phrase of choice for international Formula 1 drivers:- "For sure...."

"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go past." Douglas Adams

RE: Look,

Many people I know fill their conversation with "like I said".

If you are only saying what you said before, then you are talking too much.

William

RE: Look,

I once had to give evidence in a court case the lawyers kept saying to all the witness called “I put it to you” must be some legal slag word.

RE: Look,

Look, this thread just got boring.

Actually, our Tony Blair uses look a lot actually. And it's well, beginning to like, get annoying.

RE: Look,

Whenever my housemate disagrees with someone, she always prefaces her statements with "in all fairness..." In all fairness, it drives me nuts; where's the fairness in that?!

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