Lately, I’ve started noticing something that’s hard to unsee once you spot it: most people don’t really say anything when they speak. They just make noise. Repetitive, empty noise.
Especially in English — the global language of filler talk.
Common offenders?
- “You know” (every 3 words, even when I clearly don’t know)
- “Like” (as if it replaces every verb, noun and adjective)
- “Literally” (even when it’s metaphorical)
- “I mean” (used when they don’t mean anything)
- “Basically” (just to overcomplicate a simple idea)
- “To be honest” (implying the rest was a lie?)
- “Oh my God” (reflex, not reverence)
You hear these constantly — in interviews, podcasts, everyday chatter. And not just from Americans or Brits. Everyone says them. Poles, Swedes, French, even athletes from Japan or Chile. It’s like a virus.
Why?
Because we’ve stopped thinking before we speak. Silence feels awkward, so we fill it with “you know”, “like”, “I mean”. These aren’t bridges between ideas — they’re masks for the absence of ideas.
It’s not language anymore. It’s background noise.
And the saddest part? No one seems to notice. They give interviews, rewatch them, and still don’t realize how ridiculous it sounds to repeat “you know” 47 times in two minutes. Because everyone else does the same.
What if we spoke slower, clearer, and actually meant what we said?
Maybe people would start listening. Maybe words would mean something again. Maybe we’d find presence through language, instead of hiding in automated noise.
But until then, we’ll just keep going like… you know… basically… literally… saying nothing.
