like

What it means

1. 1.

   Sentence-final tag, heaviest in Cork, Limerick and the north: 'it was freezing, like'. It marks the statement as explanation or mild protest, and is a different word from the American mid-sentence 'like'.

In use

• I wasn't even there, like.

  Note: Defensive or explanatory. The stress falls before 'like', never on it.

• 'Twas lashing rain, like.

Where it comes from

Clause-final 'like' is old in Ireland and northern Britain, long predating the American quotative 'like she was all…'. Both now exist in Irish speech, in different positions and in different mouths, and young Dubliners use the American one freely.