When did informal use of the word "like" become prevalent? [duplicate]

When and why did the word "like" come to be used to introduce an action, or even as a meaningless filler word, e.g. "He was like, [action or quote]."

In the web article "Valley Nation (OMG. Why does, like, EVERYONE talk this way now?)" at http://chronicfatigue.typepad.com, the author suggests that embolalia, the technical term for the repeated and often unconscious use of filler words such as like, you know what I mean?, totally, soooooooo, everrrrrr, whateverrrr, and so on, originated in Valley Speak ("Valspeak") in perhaps the '70s or '80s in the San Fernando Valley in California.

"Young women used to be mocked for speaking this way. They were parodied as moronic “Valley Girls”. Valley Girls were a popular stereotype and their trademark "Valspeak" was a staple of comedy routines and teen movies. Very few women actually aspired to talking that way.

Plus, in those days, you rarely ever heard anyone speak "Val" outside of the San Fernando Valley. It was strictly a regional accent, restricted to a small region of the country, and limited to a subset of young women (mostly teenage girls). Living in San Francisco, it wasn't uncommon to overhear a snippet of Valspeak now and then. But I always assumed it was a purely West Coast phenomenon.

That is soooooo not true anymore.

I think I agree with this writer, particularly concerning the overuse of like, a habit my 28-year-old daughter (a Pittsburgher) totally has, with, like, a vengeance, you know what I mean? StoneyB, by the way, makes a good point in the comments section of the question that makes your question a duplicate:

"Just for the record, Valspeak inherited 'like' from the previous generation: it was already, like, the conventional marker for hip/beat dialogue in the early 60s. Like look up Bob Denver's character Maynard G. Krebs in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. I have no idea how much farther back it goes."

I'd forgotten about good ol' Maynard G. Krebs until StoneyB mentioned him. Since Bob Denver's TV-series character was a parody on the beatniks of the "beat generation," perhaps by dating this particular era one could pinpoint when this, like, example of embolalia emerged in a subculture. (See http://writershistory.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=4&id=13&Itemid=26, where such writers as Brautigan, Bukowski, Burroughs, Ferlinghetti, Ginsberg, Kerouac, Williams and Mailer are cited as some of the influential spokespeople for the beat generation--the name of which, by the way, may have derived from the definition of "beat" as exhausted or dead tired!.)

The phenomenon of embolalia, however, is probably as old as humanity, because it includes what I call "non-fluencies" such as uh, em, er, and eh, and many other filler words. Very few people, in fact, can speak either formally or informally without inserting at least one or two filler words (aka, automatic speech).

Moreover, some experienced speakers use filler words deliberately to accomplish various rhetorical and interpersonal purposes. These might include putting an audience at ease with a few deliberate uh's and um's here and there so that they know you are just "one of them" and are not overly confident; and giving oneself a chance to think before one speaks by saying, for example, "Well, that's a very good question; let me think about that for a minute; uh, let me say this about that . . .."

In short, who knows when the next version of Valspeak will catch on and spread like a gangrenous infection across the verbal landscape of our great country. Chances are, however, it will catch on quickly, thanks to our ability to communicate electronically at the speed of light with our various portable devices. Like, you know what I mean?

According to a wikipedia entry, It goes at least as far back as the 1950s and 60s. I think it got a big boost in the 80s and has certainly increased in the new century.