Comments on: Weekend Word Wrap: filler words

By: Colette

Colette — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 04:30:00 +0000

My mother-in-law married a Chinese man and he often heard his co-workers saying, “You betcha.” He tried saying this to her in what he thought was proper context, but it came out as “You bitch.”

Anyway… it gave us all a good laugh, you know! So….. I had fun reading these posts! I’m as guilty as anyone in bad speaking habits that’s why I’m here, literally.

By: Mª Pino

Mª Pino — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:51:00 +0000

I usually use “eh…” or “I mean..” when I speak English but, however, when I speak Spanish, I use other fillers which don´t mean the same, they are:”sabes?..” or “oye…”.

By: Jen

Jen — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:32:56 +0000

fillers are a part of every language, and even though they can be annoying when over-used, they DO play an important role in communication… so THANK YOU, to all posters before me, for giving me a useful list of fillers to help my ESL students practice sounding more natural!

By: icemaiden

icemaiden — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 00:21:05 +0000

I’m guilty of using a lot of the fillers highlighted above but basically, the newest one is(you guessed right)basically.I tried to get my boyfriend to stop me,but he only succeeded in influencing me – so, basically,the thing is I’ve got more fillers than I know what to do anything with, you get?
I’m only 18 so I guess I’ve got a lot of time to drop the habit.

By: laurel

laurel — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 01:02:39 +0000

using the phrase “not gonna lie” after every sentence bugs me…not gonna lie…

By: Jessa

Jessa — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:40:01 +0000

I’m surprised I didn’t see this one in the 67 posts above mine: “anyway.” Maybe it’s an Upper-Midwest thing?

There is the don’t-miss-a-beat variety: “So anyway we went to the mall and I got this really cool sweater, but anyway it was rainy, and I didn’t have an unbrella. Then anyway we got icecream, so…anyway.”

Or there is also the big obnoxius transitional/end of converstaion version: “well, EEEEHnywaaay.”

Anyone else notice this? Well, anyway…

By: Carlos

Carlos — Wed, 16 May 2007 19:57:08 +0000

Here in south Texas, people use “barely” way too much. i.e. “I just barely got this car” to which I asked “as in within the last hour?” to which he responded, “no, like barely 6 months ago.” Thus, I had to explain to this person that barely does not extend beyond a day or so.

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 01 May 2007 17:57:41 +0000

I see a lot of my pet peeves here!

What about “with all due respect” and “I don’t mean that in a bad way”? I heard a comedian once complain about how people think they can say anything they want as long as long as they sandwich it between these two phrases. His example: “with all due respect, your sister’s a slut; but I don’t mean that in a bad way!”

By: Amber

Amber — Tue, 01 May 2007 14:47:04 +0000

I hate the phrase “My bad” when it’s used as an apology. I don’t think I am emphasize enough how much I hate it.

Also, in the office in which I work, there seem to be a group of people who all missed the grammar lesson in school one day. “I seen it.” What is that phrase? And why won’t it go away? This statements makes me want to stab people in the eyes with sporks covered in hot sauce.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 16:46:52 +0000

my pet peeve is the current usage of the phrase “at this point in time”. When did “in time” get added, and isn’t it redundant?