Article by Featured Author
Posted July 2025This article continues the theme of promoting clear, crisp speech where precise words are used to convey meaning. At the same time, extraneous words (aka fluff or filler words) are avoided, for they do not add meaning and often detract from the thought being conveyed. Not all conversations or speeches need meet this standard, for casual or informal conversations often lack the necessity to be clear and precise. But occasions such as public speaking, oratory, or debate call for the type of speech that uses proper English, where the rules of grammar are followed, and where words are carefully chosen to convey the exact thoughts of the speaker.
Many speakers lack the confidence or the ability to begin a sentence in a direct and forceful manner. In a previous article, I noted the common use of the word “so” to begin a sentence. You will also hear a speaker start a thought with a phrase such as “I will tell you that . . .” Why is it necessary for a speaker to indicate that she is about to tell the audience something? Another example of a weak start in conveying a thought is the oft-used opening, “I am going to be perfectly honest with you . . .” What does this phrase add to the thought being conveyed? Does uttering that phrase convince the listener that he is getting the truth in this instance, or does it allow one to question whether all other statements from the speaker that do not contain this phrase are inherently a lie or false?
There is one word that has crept into conversations in kudzu-like fashion so that it becomes the dominant verb or adverb in a sentence. That familiar word is “like” and it has become a go-to word in verbal exchanges. This word is the classic meaningless filler. I once rode on a bus from the airport to the downtown of a city and was seated in front of a young man and woman and listened to their conversation. It seemed that every fourth word they uttered was “like.” The way they used the word “like” kept them from having to be precise or descriptive. Here is a running account of their conversation:
“I went to his room and was like curious. He was like, why are you here. I was like what's up. He was like upset and like mad. I was like cool it bro. He was like flipping out. I was like I'm out of here.”
I am all for eliminating the word “like” from conversations, unless it is used as a preposition to show similar qualities or to draw attention to, as a conjunction to indicate as though or as if, as a noun to reference a person or things of the same kind as another, or as an adjective to show a thing or person has similar qualities. Gone and banned would be “like” used as an adverb or verb.
