Discourse particles (DPs) are words and expressions without semantic meaning but with structural and/or interpersonal meaning (e.g., ‘well’, ‘you know’ and ‘like’). DPs are concerned not so much with the propositional content of an utterance as with what speakers actually mean by what they say. All DPs are multifunctional and their functions depend to a large degree on the context in which they are found.
Assigning functions to DPs is not a simple task and this may cause problems when translating them. Any given DP has numerous possible translations depending on which function it has in discourse. Languages differ widely in DP usage, and in general there is no one-to-one correspondence between two languages.
The DP ‘like’ has been described as a filler with no real meaning and is considered by many speakers of English to be incorrect. The filler status of ‘like’ is similar to the status of other informally used DPs in that it is regarded as a redundant and meaningless device, often used ungrammatically. In addition, ‘like’ is one of the most stigmatised DPs in the English language. The stigma can possibly be explained by the prejudice deriving from the impression that ‘like’ is used mostly by uneducated adolescents, in general, and Californian Valley girls, in particular.
The plot of the film Legally Blonde (2001, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) evolves around the typical Californian Valley girl character Elle and her struggle against the prejudices towards her attempts to succeed at Harvard Law School. Her appearance and the way she speaks are obstacles facing her as she is trying to fit into the university environment. ‘Like’ is used as a characterisation device all through Legally Blonde, almost playing a part on its own in the film as it symbolises the barrier between a Californian valley girl and the academic world.
This paper will explore both the use of ‘like’ in the film Legally Blonde and the treatment of this DP in Swedish subtitles. Preliminary results show that there is an ample variety of Swedish linguistic means used as translations of ‘like’ in this film. Despite the constraints experienced by subtitling, the translations often creatively reflect the various functions that ‘like’ demonstrates in Legally Blonde. At times, however, when ‘like’ is not translated, important parts of the film discourse and characterisations may be lost.

Jenny MATTSSON is a PhD student of English linguistics, as well as a part-time teacher, at the Department of Languages and Literatures at Gothenburg University (Sweden). She is in the process of finishing her thesis on the Swedish subtitling of the discourse particles ‘well’, ‘you know’, ‘I mean’, and ‘like’. Her main academic interests are translation studies and pragmatics. She has presented her work in progress at several international conferences such as Languages and the Media (2006, 2008), and Media for all (2007).