1

I am a Chinese student who studies linguistics. My BA thesis is about the usage of "be like" (non-finite form of "be") followed by a meme. E.g.,

"Boys be like XD" showing a pic of a man easily carrying a 60kg woman and another pic of a man struggling to carry a 30kg canister
(image source)

such "be like" structure is used commonly between Chinese young people, too. I have seen some relevant discussions in this website, and I know the "be" here has something to do with AAE (American African English). But I wonder how does this usage become popular——I mean, the invibrant "be like" is used before a meme, while finite "is/was like" and so on are more commonly used as quotative markers. Or, can "be like" replace "is/was" like in spoken English? Does that happen in daily conversation? I am searching for papers about it, only to find them scarce. I will be delighted if you can give me some help.

Improve this question
22
  • 2
    Interesting topic :) Right now, some of the questions in your body are seemingly covered by "Be like" usage; your titular question, however, is distinct and not really answered there. I suggest that you take a look at that post and remove some of the extra parts here, because questions on this site are expected to be focused.
    – Heartspring
    Commented Jan 8 at 6:38
  • 3
    The reason such "ungrammatical" usages (cf Got milk?, Eat fresh, I'm lovin' it, We don't need no XXX,...) become popular is because the "invalid" syntax is subversive. People who use them think they're sticking two fingers up to "The Man" (authority in general). But most of the time, these superficially subversive usages actually come from the established order (the advertising departments of now-globalized companies). They get paid the big bucks because they know what appeals to their target audience.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 8 at 12:54
  • 3
    Before it was a meme, the "be like" construction was frequently used in parodies of African-American stand-up comedy, in which the behavior of white people was compared to the behavior of Black people, with the white people being generally portrayed as uptight and constrained, while the Black people were comparatively loose, relaxed, and/or forthright in a similar situation.
    – Doug Warren
    Commented Jan 8 at 14:03
  • 2
    @EdwinAshworth I've generally interpreted the "X be like Y" memes as the latter. I thought it was AAVE of "X are like Y"
    – Barmar
    Commented Jan 8 at 18:34
  • 1
    @TimR: I think you're completely missing the point of such slogans. They're intended to be "memorable" precisely because they're "not quite right". If you personally were accustomed to hearing/using just "Got milk?" as completely natural phrasing back in the 70s and 80s, I can hardly argue with you. But it's an absolute certainty that most people wouldn't be in that position. If everyone had been like you back in 1993, I'm sure the ad-men would have come up with a different slogan!
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jan 9 at 17:58

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
0

The 'X be like Y' meme may well originate from "They Don't Think It Be Like It Is, But It Do" which a quote attributed to the former Major League Baseball player Oscar Gamble, which became a popular phrase in various messageboards online.

Gamble's phrase later most likely evolves into "It Really Do Be Like That Sometimes" which is a catchphrase based on a tweet and video in which the phrase serves as the caption to an image of the Dr. Phil Green M&M.

Memes containing an image plus "It Really Do Be Like That Sometimes" likely evolved into the "X be like Y" memes that are popular today.

I have found much of this information from knowyourmeme.com which you might be able to use as a reference, here is the URL: https://www.knowyourmeme.com/memes/it-really-do-be-like-that-sometimes

Unfortunately due to the organic nature of how memes change and evolve, you might have difficulty finding bona fide academic references to support your dissertation when it comes to the subject of memes.

Improve this answer
2
  • Perhaps "be like" memes could also originate from a shortened form of " I/ it/ X would be like..." as " would be like" is a grammatically correct phrase containing "be like". This is purely my opinion / speculation however.
    – LandAhoy9
    Commented Jan 8 at 23:08
  • Including some dates would be useful, to compare it to other related memes like "bitches be like", lyrics, and other usages.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Jan 9 at 9:26
0

It's African American Vernacular English and got popularised on Vine in 2013. People were making vines depicting how certain groups of people behave and beginning them with "<Group> be like:". That's how it became a meme phrase widespread outside of African American communities.

In AAVE, "be" isn't just restricted to "like"; you can say "He be saying", "She be doing" etc.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .