So, like, that's a good question!
Stop it!! Please stop using unnecessary words in your conversations.
I listen to the radio (mostly BBC Radio 4) whenever I’m home, it helps to have background noise to distract me from my tinnitus. I also enjoy most of the programmes, aside from The Archers. I can’t stand the theme music and yes, I know it’s irrational. When I listen to news and current affairs, I sometimes find myself concentrating on the words people use, rather than the content of the actual programme or interview. Not in a good way, it’s very distracting.
The reason - all those surplus to requirement words and phrases that really don’t need to be there.
Here’s a short list of the most annoying words, fillers and patronising phrases that people need to stop using (I’m sure there are many more):
So. I can just about guarantee that when an interviewee is asked a question, they will start their reply with ‘so’. This is not only the younger generation, older people, who should know better, are doing it too. It’s the most unintelligent way to start your reply. What does it actually mean when you put ‘so’ at the start of a sentence? Nothing!! It’s surplus to requirement, it’s simply not necessary. Stop it!
Like. Need I really elaborate with this one? Probably not, but I’m going to anyway. ‘Like’ should only be used when you are comparing two things or expressing a desire for something. These days, ‘like’ is used completely out of context and far too much. I know I’m getting old when I say this is something that is more widely used by younger people, but it’s not exclusive to them. I can’t listen to a conversation with someone who uses ‘like’ every other word, this is not an exaggeration. I have had this experience.
That’s a good question. When did people stop realising that interviewers, reporters, television hosts etc. are all paid to ask questions? Stop patronising these professionals by congratulating them for their ‘good question’. It’s their job to ask questions and generally they will be good questions, that’s what they do to get the best out of you. When you have been offered the privilege of sharing your story on a public platform, get on and share it. You don’t need to give the interviewer a pat on the back for asking the right questions.
What I can say is… It seems every politician has been sworn to an element of secrecy about every policy or issue that we pay them to represent us about. For the past few years in particular, they will answer a question by first telling us, ‘what I can say is…’ . I don’t know about you, but I’m more interested in what they feel they can’t say. If you have something to say, just bloody say it. By using this phrase, you let us know you can only tell us half the story. Avoid us despising you even more and stop announcing that you are only going to tell us the bit that you feel will make us happy and make you look good. We’re interested in the whole story, not just the good bits!
I sometimes feel sorry for the interviewer, they must be so tired of the same ol’ tripe they get from the people they interview. The frustration of skirting around the issue when politicians have to tow the party line and filter their response; if they respond at all. Sometimes they just bunch together a group of words that vaguely make sense in a grammatical way, but in reality, mean nothing at all.
The tongue biting they subconsciously and professionally adhere to every time they are congratulated for asking a ‘good question’. How tedious and unnecessary is this waste of airtime for the interviewer. They know their questions are relevant, they prepared the interview in order to get the answers they know their listeners what to hear. It’s even more of an insult if the interviewee has been given a list of questions prior to the interview. How condescending to respond to an already prepared question with, “Wow, that’s a good question”. Yes of course it is, otherwise you would have said something when you saw the questions you were given three days ago.
There must be many words that were used in this way across the centuries. Only 50 years ago I was criticised for using ‘um’ far too much. Maybe some of the smaller words like ‘um’ offer a purpose, they give you a moment to think about what you really want to say, to find the right word to move forward in your conversation. I can almost forgive the overuse of ‘so’ and ‘like’ for this reason, but it doesn’t make them any less annoying. Yes, I’m at that age where things that young people do and say can distract me from the content of their conversation. I can’t concentrate on a monologue that contains ‘like’ every other word.
Languages change and evolve, it takes a long time to break habits that have become part of our daily language. No doubt, a new wave of annoying and overused words will be on their way very soon. I’ll add them to my list.
Rant over. x