Topic: Linguistic Fillers

NPR featured a segment on the filler word "um," describing it as a "mighty building block of conversation" used for turn-holding and tone-softening. The report traces the word's history back to 1604 and notes its increasing use in informal social media captions. The hosts mock the academic seriousness applied to a common speech habit.

The hosts review a report from producer JJ Meyer regarding the excessive use of the phrase "of course" in previous episodes. Adam Curry admits to using the filler 37 times in episode 916 and discusses his efforts to eliminate the habit. They compare this to other common verbal tics like "yeah-no" and "uh" frequently heard in media broadcasts.

Adam Curry announces the registration of SlaveSpeak.com to host a list of linguistic filler words and "performatives." They critique the overreliance on the word "amazing" in restaurant reviews and television commentary. The hosts invite listeners to submit more examples of "unneeded wordage" that contribute to a decline in precise communication.

A listener reported a psychological phenomenon where she sees hexagons in everyday objects and print media, claiming they are appearing more frequently. This obsession with patterns is compared to the proliferation of linguistic fillers like "yeah, no" and "to an extreme." These repetitive phrases are noted as becoming ubiquitous in modern speech.

In a "Catch the Gaffe" segment, New York Times columnist David Brooks is caught using the contradictory filler phrase "yeah, no." The hosts analyze the evolution of the phrase as a diminutive version of "you know" or a way to signal a transition in thought. They conclude that such linguistic fillers are becoming increasingly common in political commentary.

The increasing use of the word "so" as a conversational filler and attention-grabbing device is identified as a disturbing linguistic trend. The hosts admit to their own struggle with this habit and compare it to other repetitive phrases like "fact of the matter." The trend is noted as being particularly prevalent in social media interactions and broadcast interviews.