Do you like me, or do you LIKE-like me?(What’s the difference?)

"Wait a minute.

You like him or you like-like him?"

"Excuse me.

Is this vegan chocolate or is this chocolate-chocolate?"

"Mom, I'm up.

I'm just not up-up.

Let me get my coffee and I'll call you back.

Okay?"

What is this thing where we take one word and we reduplicate it?

Does it change the meaning of the sentence or the meaning of the word?

Well, sort of.

This thing is called lexical cloning, or reduplication.

And it happens when a single word may have a broader meaning than the

initial original meaning of the word.

For example, the word "like": "I like you as my friend", "I like

eating ice cream", "I hit 'like' on Facebook, or on this video".

And that is the meaning of "like".

But "like" can also mean to have a crush on someone or to be

slightly in love with someone.

Right?

So when I say like-like, I indicate that I mean the narrow

specific definition of the word.

Another example that I used is "chocolate-chocolate", right?

"Chocolate-chocolate" is the real chocolate as we all know

it - milk chocolate, right?

Not bittersweet, not almond chocolate, and not vegan chocolate.

So I was comparing vegan chocolate versus chocolate-chocolate, which is the real

basic definition of the word chocolate.

When I use lexical cloning - or reduplication - I put the stress

on the first word and I say it's significantly higher in pitch.

I mean, higher-in-pitch higher-in-pitch, not just like slightly higher in pitch.

I used it as well with up-up, right.

"I'm up.

I'm just not up-up".

That means I'm up, I'm physically up, but mentally I'm still asleep.

That's why I need to get my coffee.

So I'm up, I'm just not up-up.

Okay?

And notice how I go higher in pitch.

Let's try it together.

"Up-up".

To say it higher in pitch means to use a higher note than the

note that you regularly use.

Up-up.

Chocolate-chocolate.

Like-like.

Now, it's like a lot of fun and you may have it in your native language as well.

If you do, let us know in the comments below.

Now, the reason why I want to share this phenomenon with you is because

it's really cool and fun, and it helps you understand the nuances of

a conversation better, especially if English is not your native language.

But also I want you to see if you have it in your native language, and

if you do, do you stress both words as we do stress them in English?

Let's look at a few more examples.

And when I say these examples, try to think what it means

when I use this reduplication.

Okay?

Let's try it out.

"So, are you friends-friends, or are you nice-to-see-you-again kind of friends?"

Or I can also say, "Are you friends-friends, or

are you Facebook friends?"

Which means, not really friends - and close friends.

Right?

So I can actually ask you if you can ask him to do me a favor.

Let's look at another example.

"Yeah, I talked to her last week.

But I didn't talk-to-her talk to her, so I had no idea what was going on."

So when I say it like that, it means that, yeah, I talked to her, meaning

I only exchanged with her a few words.

I didn't talk to her-talk to her, so I didn't have the opportunity of

going deep in the conversation and to ask her what was really going on.

Right?

So to talk to someone has several different meanings.

And when I double it up, when I duplicate it, it means that I mean

this term in the most specific, enhanced, intense way possible.

Okay?

"I talked to her, but I didn't talk to her-talk to her."

Another example.

"Gosh, I hate her sometimes.

I mean, I don't hate her-hate her.

It's just that she can be so annoying."

I'm using the word "hate" loosely when I say it once in comparison to

when I use it twice, which is not what I mean - I don't hate her-hate her.

It's not like deep despicable feeling.

It's just that, it's a way to say that I'm unhappy with how she's behaving.

"I mean, it's going to be a pretty casual event.

I mean, not casual-casual, but let's just say you don't have to put on the dress

you bought for your brother's wedding."

So in this case, I compare casual-casual, which probably means shorts and sneakers

versus casual - casual in relation to maybe what we had expected first, for it

to be a black tie event, and it's not.

So we can be, we can wear something a little more casual, but not

casual-casual, not super casual.

Slightly casual, casualer, more casual.

Okay, that's it.

But not that's it-that's it, because I want you to write down in the

comments below one example using lexical cloning, or reduplication.

You can also say the word "reduplication" five times in a

row, that's a great tongue twister.

I can't wait to read all your comments.

And if you like this video, click like, and share it with your friends.

And I mean share it-share it with your friends.

Have a beautiful week, and I will see you next week in the next video.

Bye.