Saying the word ‘like’ has long been seen as a sign of laziness and stupidity. But its use is actually richly nuanced, goes back to Shakespearean times, and is an indicator of, like, intelligence.

• People say language is random, but it's not.
• There are patterns in language that you can't just stick a like in anywhere.
• Research suggests that the discourse particle "like" is used more by men than women.
• The word like adds nothing to the meaning of a sentence