Like, you know, um...

In regards to everyday speech I can't think of anything that bothers me more than someone who chronically uses the space fillers of like, you know, and um. There are exceptions to using these words, but never in the context of space fillers.

"So um, like I was the movies yesterday and like there were these kids that couldn't, you know, get into the theater cause it was like a rated R movie. So then, like all the kids in their group like um, went to one of the exits of the theater, you know, the ones you come out of after a movie. And then like they waited there for a few minutes until some people, um, came out of a movie that had just ended. And then all these kids like snuck into the theater. And like, yeah."


Like

Surely you know people who speak like this. However, there are exceptions to using these words when they are used in the right context. In my previous sentence "surely you know people who speak like this" I use the word 'like' to compare my subject in question to the conversation style that was being referenced above. If it is possible to substitute the word 'like' with 'similar to' or 'such as' then the use of 'like' is acceptable. "Sure you know people who speak similar to this." This is the way the word 'like' was intended to be used, not as a catch phrase for your brain farts. If you want to refrain from using 'like' as a space filler, simply pause during your speech. You'll be able to gather your thoughts better for the next brilliant thing you're about to say.


You know

Oftentimes we become entangled in whatever it is we may be talking about and our mind is moving a lot faster than our mouth is. We'll often stumble in our speech as the rate of our mouth moving is not capable of keeping up with our mile-a-minute thinking pattern. The space filler of "you know' will often be inserted in order to retain the attention of our listeners.

"Some of these girls I meet at the bar are so stuck up, they need to get real, you know? I don't even know why I bother sometimes."

The threat of losing our peer's interest in our story forces us to regurgitate anything to keep the conversation going. I think they're called affirmatives in speech or something (like/such as) that. Here are some other affirming space fillers that allow us to link combos in our sentences:

• You feel me?
• Know what I'm sayin'?
• Ya' dig?
• Know what I mean?
• Follow me so far?
  

Affirmatives in our speech will vary from region to region but their purpose is always the same: to keep the story going without being interrupted. There are other ways to keep the story going besides using dialogue. One method which I described earlier was the pause. Another is the use of body language and gestures. This of course doesn't work over the phone. By bringing a visual image to your message you can take away the attention from the fact that you have stopped speaking and are internally gathering your thoughts.

"That cute girl who works at Wal-Mart was checking me out yesterday...(insert body language to simulate the action of scanning products at a cash register)...every time she scanned my stuff I felt like donating sperm."

Try it out and have some fun. You may become quite the bard, or what is known in today's society as the socialite.


Um

Ummmm.....do I really need to elaborate on this one? Just try not to use it and more people will be prone to listen to what you have to say. It's distracting and oftentimes reminds us of how boring you are or your incapability of saying anything meaningful.


~Anthans