I ask because I caught myself being a huge hypocrite again.
I’m a millennial and I criticized a Gen Z friend for her constant use of the word ‘lowkey.’
I then realized do I not do the same thing? I often say ‘sorta’ or ‘kinda’ when I do just mean I did the thing in the same way she uses ‘lowkey.’
No, I didn’t ‘kinda’ delete a guy’s account at my stupid IT job. I DELETED HIS ACCOUNT! I didn’t ‘sorta’ leave too late for work. I FUCKING LEFT LATE!
So I am a massive fucking hypocrite who needs to just let Gen Z chill and do what the want as I am the same flavor of asshole, but what about you?
Er, no.
Yes I use needless filler words, but i use them because I need them ;)
Low key is a really egregious one though because it is not designed to be a filler word. The thing about filler words is that every adverb is a filler word, as neuroneiro points out. Using them less makes you sound confident and precise. Sometimes they are useful or necessary. But by definition - a filler word. It is likely our overuse of adverts which trains us to use filler words like sort of, low key, kind of
Uhhh idk like um maybe
Do you
needlesslyuse filler words?I like the extra verbosity. When used in moderation anyway. A little bit of seasoning for my sentences.
I rather enjoy the greatly increased verbal verbosity that can be attained. However, I do generally prefer this effect when attained in relative moderation, it must be said. This way i provide only a small, tolerable, amount of verbal seasoning to the sentences i produce.
Exactly. As a non-native speaker, I sometimes intentionally add these words to make my speech sound less formal and more casual.
On the other hand, most of the time I talk with other non-native speakers, so I’m not even sure they notice.
Yes, I definitely do. It’s because my brain runs quite slowly, slower than I talk. So I often need to put in filler words to let my brain catch up. Or I repeat the same thing I just said but in a different way.
It’s odd how the brain can kindof pre-load the mouth with a sentence, then while the sentence is playing, it hunts for the next sentence to cue. If the next sentence is not ready yet, then the mouth goes into autopilot. It puts in filler words to make the sentence longer, and loops back on other things I’ve already said.
I was always told when younger to make sure brain is engaged before opening mouth because i would get lost mid sentence if it wasn’t planned out
Yeah,I can relate. I’ve been recently starting to learn how to make my communication more concise, that helps with getting to the point, and not getting lost mid-sentence.
No
I’m ready for people to move on from describing 85% of things as “unhinged”.
Is this like a politically correct thing anyway? Because people are starting to say that describing things as “moronic” or “Insane” is ableist, and it seems to be young leftists who use ‘unhinged’ rather than anyone else
A: “I uninstalled my dating apps this week”
B: “No way! You must be totally un-hinged!”
Your comment is completely unhinged
His actions were completely hinged
I, like, totally do!
Wouldn’t call it ‘needless’ exactly.
Why use more word when less word work
It can subtly influence meaning
Why more? Less word work
More? Less.
? .
More word sometimes make talk pretty and precise, but sometimes opposite. Words hard :(
s** world 🐟🌎
Oceans. Fish. Jump. China.
For decoration, signalling emotional state, and to play with words.
unga bunga, genius!
Filler words carry meaning, even if they don’t have specific definitions in context. Like, “like” has a dictionary definition, but if you use it as, like, a filler word, you aren’t using that definition (necessarily), but it still conveys something about how the speaker is thinking. They don’t just pop up in speech at random. I like catching them and trying to interpret why speakers insert them where they do.
Like, “lowkey” is
usually* sometimes used to soften harsh language e.g. “I’m lowkey gonna murder Sarah if she doesn’t stop chewing her gum with her mouth open”. Kinda how “kinda” works as a filler to tone down whatever is being said. I don’t actually want to murder Sarah, I just kinda want to murder her. I don’t even know if I would call them “proper filler words” in the same sense that “like” is, since they do have a particular function that “like” as a filler lacks. More research is needed it seems.For me, I let 'em fly. If I had to deliver a speech I would probably include fewer than I usually use in casual conversation, but I don’t hold with the rule that they’re strictly to be avoided. I think they’re neat.
* edit: I just know how I’ve heard it used, I have no idea how it’s usually used. I’m lowkey not in the lowkey demographic.
“Like” can also be a softener.
“I ate like 20 corn dogs” is different than “I ate 20 corn dogs.”
The former means a larger than standard number of corn dogs, maybe six or seven. The latter means twenty.
It has other practical uses as well.
I’m lowkey literally gonna murder Sarah.
Lowkey slay.
I heard someone use “literally” the other day in a way that made absolutely no sense, even in the not-literally-correct way we’ve all gotten used to. Almost like its heading for the sort of fits-anywhere role that “fucking” has.
I wonder how many fuckings could be fit into a single grammatically correct sentence.
Fuck is fucking fucked.
For fuck sake this fuck fucked up the fucking, fucking.
Yeah, I think some is phatic and some is to subconsciously maintain rhythm to hold attention. Both of which are not only fine, but if not abused, preferred in many contexts.
i concluded lowkey is similar to “down low”, personally. a bit like keep this quiet, but…
I grew up in a house with a swear word jar, and a filler word jar. The swear word jar worked differently than most. We didn’t put a quarter in every time we used a swear word. We put a dollar in every time we use a swear word incorrectly or as a filler word. According to my parents, “profanity should be used as punctuation and emphasis, not decoration.”
The filler word jar worked like a normal swear word jar. $0.25 in the jar for each and every filler word we used. Since this was in the '80s and '90s, we learned to think about what we said before we started speaking.
IRL I often use too few filler words and get perceived to be blunt or direct. So I think there is a middle ground.
like, totally!
I’ve been pretty aware of fillers from an early age and had a similar problem
I come from low socioeconomic so often a few words was enough. As I have grown and travelled I have adopted fillers, esp when writing. I often feel like I use too many which feels like I am betraying my natural way of communicating. But this also boosted by my likely ADHD. It’s usually too much, or too little, I just can’t get that middle ground.
So, similar background, and my issue is that, as I’ve traveled, widened my circle, and now (in my late 30s) made my way into higher education; I somewhat refuse to use the expanded vocabulary that these more “sophisticated” circles prefer. I feel like I’m exposing myself to thee parts of society in order to bring the better parts of it and ways of thinking back to help build my preferred community, but knowing that the only why I can bring it back is if I maintain the “local lingo” if you will. Otherwise, I feel I’ll be seen as an outsider.
I think I may have gone pretty hard and to the left of what we were originally talking about…but this is the internet, I may have just needed to scream into the void. Idk, but that constant strive for a middle ground is a familiar feeling.
I understand that and unfortunately the industries I work in expect waffle and showiness. The weird thing is in almost every exit interview my bosses tend to mention the appreciated my frankness. It must just slip out. I do get tired of the pretentiousness. It may not be that for a lot of people but that’s how it feels, like a linguistic game.
You can adapt how you speak to the people you’re talking to. In fact most people do that somewhat automatically, but you can consciously encourage it to happen more fully.
I do to a point, but there is intended refusal on my part when speaking with those that I get the impression that they do so to be impressive, especially in higher ed.
In a big believer in knowing how to and practicing the ability to speak to the least formally educated among us is a more valuable skill than is using the longest and most sophisticated words I can muster. I know the words, and I CAN use the words, but why? Especially if it runs the risk of someone around me feeling like they can’t or shouldn’t engage due to societal pressures of inadequacy. Fuck that noise.
I have often felt like I don’t belong in the space I am occupying for similar reasons, I would hate to be the reason someone else felt that way.
I try not to. When I catch myself doing it, I remind myself not to.
