I am going to express an opinion to try to persuade my readers to fix something that might make it easier for them to communicate. It may help them to do well in a job interview. It certainly will make them seem to be better conversationalists, and to come across to listeners as educated and intelligent.
"YOU KNOW, I MEAN, UH, LIKE."
For some reason, vocalizations are filled with these phrases!
We listeners are TRYING to know what people mean, but they keep saying, "You know," and "I mean," in every sentence they utter! Sometimes people even say, "You know, I mean," all in ONE sentence!!!! Then they will throw in, "Like," for absolutely no reason whatsoever! Like WHAT????
We'd like to believe that they think we DO know what they mean without having to hear it constantly.
I have heard conversations interrupted with, "You know," so many times that I have taken to sitting silently and counting the speech pauses to find out how many times a human being can interrupt himself with this meaningless phrase. In one conversation that lasted no more than ten minutes, I counted thirty "You knows," and fifteen "I means!" The rest of the conversation was lost, as all the speech pauses directed my mind away from the gusto of that conversation.
"You know, I mean, like, it's sunny outside today." Duh. Cut to the chase: "It's sunny outside today!"
"Uhhhhh." Hillary Clinton manages to squeeze this voice-pause, repeatedly, into every speech she delivers. It ruins her delivery, makes her seem less than the brilliant woman she is, and detracts from what she is telling the entire world, (and the world is listening.) I wonder if she hears those long "Uhs" when she sees herself on TV after the fact, and if so, why doesn't she repair this? It is an annoying habit. No one tells her?????
"Uh, you know, Uh, you know, like, Uh......."
Have you heard the super sports stars being interviewed? "Ya know, ya know??? I mean, I mean, uh, uh." If there is anything intelligent inserted within those trite fill-ins, it is hard to figure them out. I am not belittling those sports stars, as they may not be famed for brilliance except on the field or in an arena, but perhaps they shouldn't be interviewed at all. It would spare the fans from realizing that they cannot communicate, except athletically. The announcer could simply yell, "Great game!" and the athlete could yell back, "Thanks!" and leave the screen looking fairly smart, instead of this scenario: "Great game!" says the interviewer. "You know, thanks, I mean, like it was like good, like I mean, you know, like, uh, you know, we like won, you know, " replies the athlete. Huh? One moment before this, he was a hero, and now he becomes illiterate.
If I have insulted you by this, just stop reading. It is not aimed at any one person in particular. As I said before, IT IS AN ANNOYING HABIT, but unfortunately there are many people who have it these days. Habits can be changed, but first one has to be aware that it is being done habitually. As Dr. Phil says, "You cannot fix something that you do not first acknowledge."
Advice? Yes, (of course.) Listen to yourself when you speak. If you catch yourself saying these phrases, STOP IT!
I feel certain that we are all guilty of "speech-pauses," but, you know, I mean, can we just, like, fix them?
copyright: K P Gillenwater
