<p>Our minister had a certain adverb he used repeatedly in every sermon. It distracted my daughter so much that she counted the word being used 47 times in one sermon. She joked about it with one of the minister’s children. We have not heard that word in a sermon since (or if we did, it has been used so seldom that we haven’t noticed).</p>
<p>Charlottemom, I had to used a method similar to that used by your father; I counted aloud each use of the word “like”. I had to do so with two of my daughters to break them of that habit.</p>
<p>A former boss (who is unfortunately still in the organization) uses the word "again’ repeatedly. If his saying something the first time isn’t acknowledged, he says it again a different way, starting with, "Again, . . . "</p>
<p>Does anyone remember the time, years ago, when we were all told that saying “um” and “uh” were the kiss of death? And now you would have a hard time finding a politician who speaks without constant umming and uhhing. I can’t figure it out. IMO they sound stupider than they are.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I have any unfortunate speech habits but I have a few speech pet peeves.<br>
This one:</p>
<p>You explain something to someone and the response is “Wait…WHAT?”
Another:</p>
<p>Someone asked someone else a question and that person starts the answer with the word “So”. Like this.
Person one: What’s the bet way to saute garlic?"
Person two:" So, you will want to slice it very thin and heat the oil slowly…"
One more:
When someone is taken aback by something and say “What tha…” leaving the end for the listener to fill in. Well, of course the listener fills in a vulgar word so why not just say it?
I teach elementary school and even the 2nd graders say this. I don’t allow it in my classroom.</p>
<p>The woman who is training me at work says “pacifically,” too. She also says “verbatim” constantly even though she doesn’t know what it means, along with a whole host of other words. It’s awkward because sometimes I can’t actually tell what she MEANT to say.</p>
<p>Personally, I find her most annoying habit to be when she anticipates what question you are going to ask her, and answers that question instead of the one you asked. Now I am glad I had so many bad teachers in school, or I would not have a clue how to function in this job.</p>
<p>I know that I probably have a billion unfortunate speech habits, but I don’t know what any of them are. I know when I was a kid I began every sentence with “you know how…” for like four years straight.</p>
<p>Here’s one that bugs me…
Someone makes a statement and the other person replies with "I know…right?
Ex. Bob has a really bad haircut. I know,right?</p>
<p>Another one that seems very common now is the use of “really” as a sort of sarcastic question. Ex. Sally seems to think her kid is smarter than mine…Really? I mean reaallly?</p>
<p>We have definitely seen a great deal of , “I know, right” but I did not know it was a nationwide phenomenon, I thought it was more a local exposure thing, I wonder where it began.</p>
<p>I kinda like “wait…what” and “I know, right?” I don’t see these as verbal tics. I think they fill particular verbal niches well, in colloquial language. Another I hear a lot is the trailing off “so…yeah.”</p>
<p>Interestingly, these space fillers are not the same in all languages. In Japanese you say “ano” - with the a having an “ah” sound. So when you hear some Japanese speaker on TV saying “ano…ano…” he is saying the equivalent of “um…uh…”</p>
<p>I currently have this PhD student in one of my seminars. Thankfully most of the class is discussion based, because when I do have to lecture, this guy listens intently, AND continually verbalizes “yes” with matching nods. A LOT. So basically as I’m lecturing, his head is going up and down, up and down, and he’s fastly repeating yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes- continuously! It’s really weird. </p>
<p>And Garland, your old boss sounds like my brother. Adore my brother but it drives me nuts the way he always says, “but what you need to understand is…”</p>
<p>It’s not my habit, but my new pet peeve is inserting literally, literally everywhere. It’s sometimes just wrong (“it was so boring, I was literally dying”) or its superfluous (“I literally just wrote this sentence”). Some people put it into literally every sentence. The worst part is that even though I hate it, I now have to fight the urge to say it.</p>
<p>I say “Awesome” way too much for a grownup. I say “Let me ask you this” instead of just… asking you this. And when I get excited about something, I get loud.</p>
<p>This thread is cracking me up! So true, so many of these phrases happen and are ANNOYING!!!</p>
<p>My husband, " You know what I’m sayin??" over and over when he’s on the phone. And “I don’t mean to pick on you but…” - that immediately puts me on the defense.</p>