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?
The filler words do carry meaning just not content although using them every time establishes a new baseline. They can be used to convey vibes, to harden, soften or communicate lack of confidence for example.
If you kinda/sorta deleted a person’s account, you still deleted the account but you are implicitly saying you didn’t mean to for example. Lowkey can be a modifier to mean you don’t feel strongly about something.
Why use more word when less word work
More word sometimes make talk pretty and precise, but sometimes opposite. Words hard :(
s** world 🐟🌎
Oceans. Fish. Jump. China.
Why more? Less word work
More? Less.
? .
It can subtly influence meaning
For decoration, signalling emotional state, and to play with words.
unga bunga, genius!
I still use “cool” a lot, but I think its become one of those words that will persist through generations.
It’s not really a filler word, but I’ve been corrected on my use of “just,” particularly at my work place. “Just” is often used by some people to minimise the impact of what they’re saying intentionally. For example, “I just think we should change the wording in this law.” If you take out ‘just’ (and some of the other words) and say the thing you meant to say - it becomes a far punchier statement, “We should change the wording in this law.”
The OP made me think of a poem by Taylor Mali, “Speak With Conviction.”
Of course I do and I think most people do. Its pretty hard to go without filler words in conversation. You’d need to be well spoken and thoughtful in every conversation to avoid using them.
It’s funny how people will be particular over filler words but not over speaking a shitty language with a grammar that barely makes sense.
Fixing one’s use of filler words is orders of magnitude easier than learning a “better” language. Doubly so for convincing everyone you know to also put in that effort for the same “better” target language.
Take one step back and ask yourself why you criticized your friend to begin with.
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.
I’m lowkey literally gonna murder Sarah.
Lowkey slay.
“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.
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…
No, I mean I don’t use them needlessly or whatever. I kinda use them to sorta let my thoughts buffer.
I mean like it’s kinda like fuck man like you know like it’s kinda sorta like fuck man like fuck you know man like sorta kinda like fuck man like fuck man you know like it’s kinda like-
The curse-filler version of the rainbow wheel.
The Title should be “Do You Use Filler Words?” not “Do You Needlessly Use Filler Words?”. At least I really, really, really think so. /s
Do you
needlesslyuse filler words?no, why use many words when few do trick
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
I’m french, and it’s a geberational thing I guess. People my age often say “genre” (equals “kinda”), and older people find this very annoying (I’m 22)
Um, like, no?
You know what I mean?
I do, at the end of the day.
IRL I often use too few filler words and get perceived to be blunt or direct. So I think there is a middle ground.
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.
like, totally!
