"and I was like ..."

If there's one conversational tic I could break myself of, that would be the one. I picked it up somewhere in high school, and cannot seem to get rid of it. It would be easier, simpler, and certainly grammatically correct to say "and I said ..." but no. Out it comes. "And I was like ... " Occasionally, even worse, it's "I went ..." Or "he goes ..."

Dreadful. Embarrassing. I feel like I brand myself a perennial teenager every time I do it. But I can't break myself of it, no matter how I try. Some day I'll be a little old lady, telling my grandkids stories, and they'll be cracking on my grammar.