Honestly, how many times? Have a guess, because you're gonna be blown away by how many times he says it.

Let's check it out.

I sold out Cargo and made like two grand, and I remember like being like, like I'd never got more than 50 quid for a booking before, and like before then, like nothing at all.

I remember like having like two grand cash in my hand and being like...

[Interviewer] Sizing up.

Yeah, but like all my mates were working Saturday jobs at that point, and I was like this is more than my mates would make in Saturday jobs for the whole year.

So that like, me leaving school where everyone was like, you're an idiot.

[Interviewer] Yeah.

And, I was holding that being like no I...

What? 13 times in 30 seconds?

That's remarkable, Ed, that's - give this man a round of applause.

This is a world record. I don't think anyone's ever said like 13 times in 30 seconds.

Now, what we wanna know is, why? Why does he say like 13 times in 30 seconds?

Well, there's two reasons.

First of all, we use like as a nothing word. It buys us time when we are thinking of what we are gonna say.

When we are constructing a sentence we'll say the word like to fill the space whilst we are thinking of of what we wanna say.

I sold out Cargo and made like two grand...

It helps us to structure our sentences, hmm... now here it sounds like Ed's got into a bit of a habit of saying it.

like I'd never got more than 50 quid for a booking before, and like, before then like nothing at all. I remember like having like two grand cash in my hand and being like...

It's almost like, well he's certainly not controlling how often he says it. Otherwise he wouldn't say it 13 times in 30 seconds.

It's just kind of a natural thing. It's almost like a verbal tick. It's automatic. It's a habit that he's got into.

It's like a little crutch he uses when he's trying to think of what he wants to say.

So that's the first reason.

The second reason that he's using it is part of a pattern that we use in everyday spoken English to report what we've said or how we've felt.

...and I was like this is more than my mates would make in Saturday jobs...

So he's looking at the money that he earned from one night's work.

Now he didn't literally say those exact words: "This is more than my mates earn." He didn't say those exact words, but that's what he was feeling. That's what he was thinking.

So we can use like to report how we felt or something that we said.

...and I was like this is more than my mates would make in Saturday jobs...

And it's used all the time. He uses it again later.

...me leaving school, everyone was like, you're an idiot, and then I was holding that being like...

Well, he's reporting there, what people said or thought or felt.

So, when he left school, people maybe said to him, oh, you're an idiot.

Okay, so he's reporting the words that they said, or maybe they expressed those feelings to him, not maybe in those exact words.

So, maybe they said are you sure you wanna leave? Do you think it's a good idea?

But the idea here is that that was the emotion that they had; you're an idiot, why are you doing this?

...me leaving school, everyone was like you're an idiot, and then I was holding that being like...

So the word like in this context is really functional; It's not just filling space. It's actually reporting an emotion or a thought or what someone has actually said.

So, for you guys, do I recommend that you start using the word like?

Not necessarily, you don't need to start trying to add it in.

As your conversation becomes more natural, you'll probably start using it a bit more.

Probably not a good idea to use it 13 times in 30 seconds. That's a bit too much, but, it could be a part of your English at some point if you are trying to think of a word or buy some time throw the word like in there.

And definitely I think it's great to be aware of how other people use it, especially with that reporting of the emotion or what someone has said or thought, really useful there.

Alright guys, thank you so much. Remember to check out my Instagram account and have a great day.

Yeah, have a brilliant day.

Alright guys, this is Tom, the chief dreamer, saying goodbye.