"You know ... you know"

[Sojourner]

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's noticed the growing and annoying trend of people overusing the filler phrase "you know" in recent years. It seems like just about everyone is doing it. I notice it in almost every podcast I listen to, and in almost every TV interview. I also notice myself doing it occasionally, and it always makes me wince. I've been making a concerted effort to totally avoid this ridiculous filler phrase when I'm speaking, but sometimes it just slips in.

Here's a notable example of the extreme overuse of "you know" which is becoming more and more common. The famous movie producer Harvey Weinstein was interviewed on CNN a few years ago, and he said "you know" 84 times during the broadcast. Here's a little sample:

WEINSTEIN: You know, it's funny, all the past school massacres and you know, I read about them in the newspaper, Columbine, Aurora, you know, we shield deeply for four or five days and then we get on with our lives, you know. We say, "God, let's fight for gun control. Let's do something about it." You know, when Sandy Hook in Newtown happened, it's 20 minutes away from where I live with my kids, and I mean, whatever. You know, I watch your shows and, you know, all during that time period. And you know, when it's in your backyard, you cannot ignore it, you know. I mean, I've done a good job of feeling sympathetic for it over the years but I've done also a good job of ignoring and say, "Well, that's somebody else's fight."

And then I met, you know, the Giffords, I mean whatever, and you know, they're amazing, Gabby, you know, and Mark, you know, and just incredible to me what they've done and what Mayor Bloomberg has done. And also...

Maybe I should've posted this in the "Pet Peeves of the Day" thread. But it's so insidious and seems to be getting worse and worse, so I thought maybe it deserved its own thread. Anyone else notice this and find it as annoying as I do?

 

[W2R]

That phrase used to drive my mother crazy back in the 1950's when we kids were growing up.

She'd scowl and say, "No, I *DON'T* know. Why don't you tell me about it."


Such is life as the kid of an English teacher.

 

[HadEnuff]

and it's sister phrase "like"....

you know, like? I was, like, crossing the street, you know? and like this really cute guy, like, you know? really cute, well, like.....on and on.....

 

[MikeD]

The ya know phrase seems to be lasting a long time. Like man buns, I have seen many words become popular and have little use except for being a fad.

In the last ten years it seemed to me to be 'various' that was the word to use. There are almost no sentences that need the word various. Far fewer where the sentence doesn't have the same meaning without the word 'actually' than with it.

Another of my annoyances was the use of 'uh' by someone repeatedly offered as the world's greatest orator. Now we have to suffer with people using 'bigly' and 'winning' unnecessarily. One of the things that really starts me yelling at the TV is people correcting other people when the critical person is wrong. I seem to do that a real lot.

Mike D.

 

[pacergal]

Sorry, the first thing my mind sees when I read "man buns" is the backside of a guy in jeans, ya know?

 

[Nemo2]

"Myself"...I hear it on the radio....."Just call myself at ........" And I'm screaming "If you call yourself you'll get a busy signal!"

 

[Sojourner]

and it's sister phrase "like"....

you know, like? I was, like, crossing the street, you know? and like this really cute guy, like, you know? really cute, well, like.....on and on.....

Yeah, there's a whole litany of annoying fillers out there, and "like" is one of the worst. But I still think "you know" is the current king, based on what I hear in podcasts and on TV every day. I did notice in the Harvey Weinstein interview transcript, he was very fond of the ridiculous phrase "I mean, whatever", as well.

 

[Texas Proud]

"Myself"...I hear it on the radio....."Just call myself at ........" And I'm screaming "If you call yourself you'll get a busy signal!"

Well, just to correct you a bit, like, ya know.... if you have Comcast, like me, ya know, you CAN call yourself and leave yourself a message if you want... or to pick up any message left for you... ya know...

(sorry, I just had to) ((or is it too?))

 

[Nemo2]

That phrase used to drive my mother crazy back in the 1950's when we kids were growing up.

She'd scowl and say, "No, I *DON'T* know. Why don't you tell me about it."


Such is life as the kid of an English teacher.

We've been, mostly unsuccessfully, for a few years now, trying to break our twelve year old granddaughter's habit of saying saying "You know what?"....(to which we always reply "Yes, he invented the steam engine").

At least now, when she does it in front of us, she generally catches herself and says "I know, I know".......with her friends I imagine it goes unchecked.

 

[braumeister]

So, you know, like the one that makes me crazy is beginning a sentence with the completely superfluous "So, ..."

 

[Amethyst]

Nouning of verbs doesn't sound good to my ears. "Send you an Invite" for "invite you." "Do an Install" for "install."

It doesn't Drive Me Crazy or anything, it just doesn't sound good.

 

[Texas Proud]

Nouning of verbs doesn't sound good to my ears. "Send you an Invite" for "invite you." "Do an Install" for "install."

It doesn't Drive Me Crazy or anything, it just doesn't sound good.

I guess we are going to phrases that make no sense...

I have heard "I borrowed him the money".... you what? You mean you lent him the money, right?

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

"But at the end of the day..."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Bestwifeever]

Nothing grammatically wrong here, but "gifting" drives me crazy; whatsamatta with "giving"? Hearing "purchase" as a verb also irks as a big word that means "buy."

I listened to DD leave a five-minute voice mail for a longtime client and she said "umm" at every single pause. She never uses "umm" in face to face conversations.

 

[athena53]

Toastmasters is the answer. There's an "Ah Counter" at every meeting who counts instances of filler words- "ah", "um", "you know", "like", "so".. we all have our favorites. I'm pretty good at keeping them out of my speech.

One of my pet peeves, not quite in the same category: instead of "I said", "I'm, like..." as in- "I'm, like, let's go to the beach".

And I just thought of another quirk which I'm even hearing (oh, horrors) from BBC announcers: "Me and.." as a subject, as in, "Me and my colleagues went to lunch..."

 

[MRG]

Toastmasters is the answer. There's an "Ah Counter" at every meeting who counts instances of filler words- "ah", "um", "you know", "like", "so".. we all have our favorites. I'm pretty good at keeping them out of my speech.

One of my pet peeves, not quite in the same category: instead of "I said", "I'm, like..." as in- "I'm, like, let's go to the beach".

+1
Toastmasters and Carnegie fix those issues quickly.

 

[harley]

Hmmm... I'd probably be annoyed by these things if I paid any attention to what anyone else was saying. Obliviousness is bliss. Here's me...

 

[Amethyst]

"gifting" sounds vaguely pretentious, like it's supposed to be seen as more of a gift, somehow, than if I just gave you something.

Nothing grammatically wrong here, but "gifting" drives me crazy; whatsamatta with "giving"?

 

[Lcountz]

All the previously mentioned, plus:

My pet peeve is .......AXXXXX.

"Like, I axxxxxed him for a ride...."

When I hear "AXXXXX" for "ASK" I want to kick the TeeVee off its stand.

Such a simple three letter one syllable word, yet so hard to master.

"BABY MOMMA" is my most hated expression. A badge of ignorance for both parties.

Rant over.

The moronification of America rages on.

 

[pb4uski]

Must be a slow day in ER land.

 

[Sojourner]

All the previously mentioned, plus:

My pet peeve is .......AXXXXX.

"Like, I axxxxxed him for a ride...."

When I hear "AXXXXX" for "ASK" I want to kick the TeeVee off its stand.

Such a simple three letter one syllable word, yet so hard to master.

"BABY MOMMA" is my most hated expression. A badge of ignorance for both parties.

Rant over.

The moronification of America rages on.

+1000

 

[I was misinformed]

Yeah, there's a whole litany of annoying fillers out there, and "like" is one of the worst. But I still think "you know" is the current king, based on what I hear in podcasts and on TV every day. I did notice in the Harvey Weinstein interview transcript, he was very fond of the ridiculous phrase "I mean, whatever", as well.

Of course, Canadians are famous for (and maybe even proud of?) their widespread use of the superfluous filler "eh". In fact Americans (at least) also employ the "interrogative eh" at the end of questions, but supposedly the Canadian speciality is the "narrative eh" ("I was going to the store, eh, when I see Tom on the sidewalk, eh, ...")

There was a book about peculiarities of the Canadians published years ago titled "Canajun, eh?" and you can find some internet content now using that phase, such as

https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1P2-32587006/canajun-eh

 

[samclem]

So, you know, like the one that makes me crazy is beginning a sentence with the completely superfluous "So, ..."

++1. Very annoying. This one has really taken off in approx the last 5 years. It's especially annoying because it is usually condescending when taken in context, as if saying "So, I'll explain the background of this topic so a simpleton like you can understand it."

 

[NW-Bound]

Must be a slow day in ER land.

Any day now, a drop in the market to take the Dow below 20,000 will get people's attention back to the really important stuff.

I do hate "you know", and this feeling is not recent but goes back a long time. Why? Just a pet peeve, like most things. Humans are complex animals. Even with animals like cats, I have not found two behaving alike.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

Nothing grammatically wrong here, but "gifting" drives me crazy; whatsamatta with "giving"? .

Yes.