I have to agree with Jim Bunny's editorial (The Weekend Sun, February 9) re use of the word ‘like'.

Every fourth or fifth word is ‘like'. Even some well-known New Zealanders use it far too often in sentences. I have caught myself using it incorrectly. People on social media write it in their posts for goodness sake.

I think it first originated from the 70s sitcom ‘Welcome Back Kotter'. I stand to be corrected, but I believe it was first uttered by a ditsy, gum-chewing student in the sitcom, and the rest is history.

I don't know how this can be remedied, short of using a cattle prod and sticking people with it every time they utter ‘like' unnecessarily in a sentence.

It's as bad as people talking so fast that they cut words short e.g. absoley, (absolutely) ovishly, (obviously). We spell them correctly, why can we not say them correctly?

Putting ‘a' or ‘i' instead of ‘e' at the beginning of words such as elaborate, election, evaporate, essential. Imagine is another annoying grammar mistake.

Listen to TV announcers and you'll see what I mean. These people need elocution lessons. They of all people should speak correctly. Whatever happened to correct grammar? Dunno!

S Gussey, Omokoroa.