Note to readers:  Please add to this list, either words I’ve left out or those that bother you or piss you off.  I’d like to get a collection of things not to say. I listen to people speak all the time.  I’ve done it myself.  Almost everyone is guilty of not speaking properly unless they are reading a teleprompter.  The less practiced you are, the more likely you are to say them. I’ve been keeping a collection of them and have perused the internet to get some others.  They are filler words and take up time and space, don’t use them. Here goes:

Um – women more than men

Uh – men more than women

Here is the record for Um’s and Uh’s that I’ve every heard from a public speaker. This is truly awful.

Huh

Okay

Right

Totally

Oh by the way – I particularly hate this one

You know what I mean? You know what I’m sayin’?

You know

Shape, form or fashion

Finger quotes in the air

There and there abouts

To be honest/If I’m hones with you – (what, are you lying to me otherwise?)

Any expletives – James Governor, this is for you

It’s all good – my current pet peeve

Ah

Like, so like, so I’m like – mostly used by younger people, especially teenage girls

Er

Quite honestly, (were you lying up until now?)

Cracking – as of this date, the current most annoying UK adjective.  It is overused by the announcers at Radio LeMans as an example.  Everything used to be brilliant, but now it’s cracking.

True story

Advanced filler words: just, very, really, mostly An apparently meaningless word, phrase, or sound that marks a pause or hesitation in speech. Also known as a pause filler or hesitation form.

Here is a list I got from the Blacksheeponline. 10.) “Ya know?”: If you have to end your thought by asking the person if they “know” what it is you’re saying, then it’s either painfully obvious or totally obscure. Either way you’re not making it any clearer, ya know?   9.) “Really”: “Really” is the least descriptive adjective in the English language. “How bitchy was she?” “Really bitchy.” Okay now we got it. We can’t all be Poet Laureate, but words are awesome! They’re like how we can communicate really well and stuff.   8.) “Literally”: This word should be erased from everyone’s vocabulary. Anything that is not a figurative statement is a literal statement. “It’s literally like a million degrees out.” Even if we lived on the sun you still wouldn’t be right.   7.) “I guess”: “Houston are we clear for takeoff?” “Yeah, I guess.” We can’t be afraid to show a little conviction. We’re in college now. It’s time to stop guessing and start knowing.   6.) “Or whatever”: Yeah we know it’s cool to not give a shit, but saying “whatever” at the end of every sentence makes everyone else give less of a shit. It’s the ultimate badge of apathy and kills the whole point of making conversation. But, whatever… ya know?   5.) “I mean”: If you’re talking then people can only assume that you mean to say something. People shouldn’t have to try to understand what you’re saying. If you mean what you say, you shouldn’t have to say what you mean.   4.) “Idonknow” (phonetic: I-dunno): There’s nothing wrong with not knowing something, but you should never follow up an “Idonknow” with an explanation. “Why are you tired? Idonknow, I guess I stayed up too late,” Okay, so you do know.   3.) “So…”: Sorry, we couldn’t tell if you were finished. Using a coordinating conjunction at the end of the sentence without a follow-up clause is like writing a perpetual cliffhanger, and cliffhangers may be all right, but we’re all here for the climax anyway.   2.) “Um/Uh”: “Um” and “Uh” have become a means of kick starting our sentences. Even when asked the simplest questions we can’t help but let out an “Um.” “What did you say your name was?” “Um… S**t!”   1.) “Like”: The granddaddy of them all. “He was like… And then I was like…” When did “like” become a substitute for “said?” Instead of saying how everything is like something else, simply say what it actually is. Why do we even use it so much? When you listen to your parents talk, they’ll rarely use the word, and definitely not to the extent to which we use it. It’s the most normal way to talk these days, and it feels so natural to use it. If you can talk for five minute without saying the word “like” once, you are the prodigal leader, like, the one mankind has been waiting for.