I was reading a thing about the quotative "like" that is prevalent in youth speech (e.g.: He was like "Oh my god, EW!") and I realized that when I use "like" this way, it takes on certain characteristics that other synonyms of "said" do not.

First the obvious one, it is only used in speech. I would never write a quotative like (unless for the purpose of emulating a certain register of speech).

Secondly, while it is quotative in function, it implies that what I'm about to quote is not necessarily a direct quote, but may be my own wording of the speaker's intent. So when he was like "Oh my god, EW!", he might not have actually said "Oh my god, EW!" he might have said something else or just made a face of disgust.

Finally, when I use the quotative like, I am, if only to some small extent, acting out the role of the speaker. I might modulate my voice, wave my arms about, make faces, etc. I'll often do this rather subtly because not all the places I have conversations are conducive to acting out every character, but the implication is that from the time I utter the word "like" to the time I finish quoting, I "become" the person I'm quoting.

Since a lot of people reading this are of similar demographic and probably use the quotative like themselves, I'm wondering if it has the same characteritics and connotations when you use it, or is this just something personal to me?