MARY GABLE

We’ve always been advised to, like, avoid using “filler words.” Y’know, words like “um,” “I mean,” “well,” “uh,” and stuff?

Here’s an interesting—but not all that surprising—finding. These words actually do serve a purpose. In a research study, participants were quicker to respond to commands from a computer that did use filler words than from one that didn’t.

To listeners, “uh” indicates that something new, which requires more mental processing on the part of the speaker, is about to be introduced. This helped the study participants put themselves in the right mindset of choosing from the as-yet unfamiliar objects.

They might not be the most elegant utterances to hear, but in some small way, these words carry meaning—and they aid our understanding. I’ve noticed Spanish and English both have their own sets of filler words—and according to the article, so does every other language.

I dunno, I guess that means filler words, like, aren’t so bad after all.

Every language needs its, like, filler words.

Tagged: bilingualism, language, research, words