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Welcome to the A.D.Z. English podcast. My name is Jack and um...
Well...
So you know like, I mean actually... I'm here with my co-host, Social Of Course.
And today we are... I don't know where we are. I think we're in the vocabulary
spotlight. I would say probably... Yeah, something like that. We're talking about
fillers. Yeah, so fillers. And Social, what are like, what are fillers? Like what
what's the purpose? Well Jack, you gave us a great demonstration. They're kind of
like time buyers when you're trying to think of something to say or the word
you're thinking of or what you're going to say in a conversation. I just used one
there. They kind of buy you time to find the word that you're looking for and
they're meant to fill that empty space because it's a bit awkward if for
example, I'm thinking of something to say and let's say I'm thinking Jack's
like what's your favorite color? And I just shared him for a long time quietly.
And then like blue. And instead of being like, oh well I think probably blue, you
know, that seems way more natural than just a blank social. And then awkward silence,
you know, awkward. So we hate awkward silences, right? Yeah, a long awkward silence. I
think are they? I don't know listeners I'm curious to know about whether you have
fillers in your native languages. I think they're a part of every language because
I remember when I learned Japanese or part of Japanese, part of Korean. I don't
remember Chinese, but it has to be definitely part of Spanish part of English. So I
think they must be in every language, but that is a question I'm curious about. So
definitely let us know if they're part of your native language. I'm curious. Yeah,
yeah, for sure. And anyone who's listened to this podcast knows that I'm the
filler king because my brain cannot keep up with my mouth. My mouth runs at about,
you know, 100 miles per hour, 100 miles per hour. My brain thinks it about 50. So I use,
I use um a lot. I've noticed I'm like, um, use a lot. A lot. Yep. So, and I also use,
you know, even though it's my pet peeve. Wow. Hippocrit. You know what I mean? You know what I mean?
I'm like, I, well, I don't know why I get mad at people for doing that because they're just
filling the time. They're like, you know what I mean? You know, you know? Yeah, or they're
trying to see if they make sense. Like that's how I, yeah. Right. They're not saying like,
check your dumb. You don't understand anything. You understand? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, sorry.
Yeah. What this one? Um, so we got um well, well, well, that's another common one. Um,
we've got so you know, uh, this one is really common with young people. Do you know what I'm going
to say? Like, yes. Cause I even text like that. Well, like, you know, um, like it's like when,
or instead of saying he said, she said, my generations and younger ones say he was like, she was
like, we don't say like, he said, hello, we're like, she was like, Hey, what's up? I don't know
why we do that. Oh, yes. That we, my general, we've, we've, we did that too. Like, yeah, instead
of saying, uh, he said something, you know, you say he was like, I don't know. And then she
was like, well, why don't you know? And then he was like, well, shut up. And then she was like,
well, she you shut up, you know, like that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Instead of saying, yeah. Um, I mean,
uh, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, yeah, that's another common one. I'm sure I do too.
Yeah. I mean, actually, yeah, actually, actually, actually, I think, I think, yep, I think,
I think actually, uh, actually, and basically those are two that people lean into a lot. Oh, yeah,
I use basically quite a bit too. I think, yeah. One that bothers me is when people make a mistake
between literally and figuratively, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I literally died. I literally died
of embarrassment. Oh, man. Oh, you, you literally died. Then what, how are you going to go for
now to tell the story? Yeah. Um, uh, here's a couple of things too. But it's like a way, I know
the difference, but it's like a way to exaggerate it even more. Like it was literally, I literally
wanted to die. Like I was so embarrassed. I'll say that. It's like I didn't literally want to die,
but it's like just to add even more emphasis. And you know what? I'm actually lying because I,
I'm guilty of it too. And it doesn't really bother me that much. I mean, I, I know when people are
being, um, exaggerate, when people are exaggerating, yeah. When people are using it like for dramatic
effect versus people who are actually confused. Yeah. And I understand that language shifts.
And so that literally is sometimes used to mean figuratively. No. And that's fine. I don't,
it doesn't really, I think some, I don't feel language boomer, Jack. I'm not, I know. I don't
want to be a, what they call a language, a petent or, you know, pet entry, you know, where you're
just like a pedantic about, you know, you must use this word or this word, you know, when,
when you're doing it. So yeah, pedantic for our listeners who don't know is like a condescending,
like looking down on someone and kind of pedally and forcing rules. Like we all know what someone
said, but someone who's pedantic will literally correct them anyway, just because they, it gives
them some false sense of superiority. My sister, my dad and my grandmother all do this, but my
grandmother was an English teacher so she gets a pass. But my dad and my sister don't get a pass
because I don't know what they're doing, but they do it and it's annoying. Yeah, but they'll,
they'll, they'll say, I think what you meant to say was you figuratively wanted to die, you know,
or something like that. And you're like, Oh, I don't need your, yeah, please. I don't need your,
your advice. Yeah. We've got a couple more like well, you see, well, you see, well, you see,
I like that one. That one's not, that was not annoying to me. Well, you see, I, that one can be
nice. I don't think it's used that much anymore. Yeah. But yeah. And the last two I have is in a way
or in a sense, you know, to add nuance. So in a way, he did it in a sense. This was, which I think
are okay too. They're not. Yeah, that's annoying. I don't think any fillers inherently annoying,
but sometimes there, there you go. Sometimes the use of fillers, they can be overused, right?
That's right. But I think, I think it's, it's good. When I was learning Japanese in college,
I remember that our professor encouraged us to use fillers Japanese fillers when we were
thinking of the word to say, like when we forgot how to say something to fill the time with Japanese
fillers. And if we did that like on our oral exams, we would get extra points. And I think that's
a good way to sound more natural. I love that idea. I might actually use that in my classroom,
because I kind of skipped over this. I generally skip over this. But, you know, we all use fillers,
because we again, our brains are not going to keep up with our mouths, you know, and our mouths
need to bias some time in between the thought process. What am I going to say next? Well, you see,
then you say it. And actually, if you're learning a language, because there's going to be times where
you don't remember how you're supposed to say something or like the word that you're thinking of,
and then to fill it with natural fillers from that language, it just makes your English sound
better and more natural, I think. It's kind of like, it's smooth. It smooths out the engine running,
you know, like it's like oil or something. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Listeners, well,
I would love to hear what are common fillers or the most common fillers in your native languages.
I'm very curious about that. So please make sure to leave us a comment down below at a.tzEnglishProtest.com.
Shoot us an email. We love to hear your listener emails at a.tzEnglishProtest.com and join the
WeChat and WhatsApp groups to join the conversation and you can just drop a line about the most
common fillers and we would love to read it. See you guys next time. Bye bye. Bye bye.
