What are they? They are the words we use to fill in when our mouths are in gear before our brains. We hear them from much of the population, like, like, especially the young. Phrases such as: Like, you know, I mean, and you know what I mean. “No I don’t know what you mean”? I sometimes count, you knows, likes, and I means. Recently I heard a college honors graduate butcher a description of what her new position will be. Wow. I stopped counting the word, like, at five and started to zone out. Anything past five deserves a mute from the controller. I first became aware of crutch words in a high school science class. We, the class, would count how many times the instructor used the sound, auhm. He usually sounded 30-40 times in a fifty minute class.
Listening to conversations, I sometimes cringe with pity when the sentence starts with, I mean you know, and goes downhill. It’s especially grating when the millionaire jock hero (role model) is talking about his performance of the afternoon. As if he saved the world from something, like, I mean, you know.
Speaking properly requires the brain to be in front of the mouth, so the words make sense. If we slow down speaking and take a breath, we can all sound smart.
I think jocks should be required by contract to go through some interview training on how to say what they mean, in describing the score, move, or how that makes them feel. It could be an hour or three, whatever it takes to tune up the vocabulary and delivery. I hope I’m not being too critical. Like, you know, what I mean.
