The filler words do carry meaning just not content although using them every time establishes a new baseline. They can be used to convey vibes, to harden, soften or communicate lack of confidence for example.

If you kinda/sorta deleted a person’s account, you still deleted the account but you are implicitly saying you didn’t mean to for example. Lowkey can be a modifier to mean you don’t feel strongly about something.

Take one step back and ask yourself why you criticized your friend to begin with.

I still use “cool” a lot, but I think its become one of those words that will persist through generations.

It’s not really a filler word, but I’ve been corrected on my use of “just,” particularly at my work place. “Just” is often used by some people to minimise the impact of what they’re saying intentionally. For example, “I just think we should change the wording in this law.” If you take out ‘just’ (and some of the other words) and say the thing you meant to say - it becomes a far punchier statement, “We should change the wording in this law.”

The OP made me think of a poem by Taylor Mali, “Speak With Conviction.”

no, why use many words when few do trick

There are two primary reasons people use filler words.
One is to maintain possession of the role of ‘speaker’ in the conversation because, if you stop for a while, someone might think you’re done (if it sounded like the end of a thought) or have broken down trying to think of what to say. Spending time in environments where people have high demands for time or competition for attention can make these things worse. The other is social fear or anxiety about how your message will be received, or over one’s correctness and certainty. ‘I am claiming this thing for myself,’ has the same ultimate goal as ‘Nah, lowkey f’real, I was kinda maybe thinking of nabbing that,’ but the use of the extra ‘filler’ words and slang is designed to obfuscate the meaning, making it passive agressive, forcing the listener to parse the extra layers of obfuscation before having a chance to object, and leaving a verbal avenue of retreat open if someone does object, allowing them to say, ‘No, I said I was thinking about it.’ Spending time in environments where one has to deal with openly agressive people can often make people seek out these verbal conflict avoidance techniques.

uuuhno. (That’s one word.) 🤧

I’m french, and it’s a geberational thing I guess. People my age often say “genre” (equals “kinda”), and older people find this very annoying (I’m 22)

It’s funny how people will be particular over filler words but not over speaking a shitty language with a grammar that barely makes sense.

Of course I do and I think most people do. Its pretty hard to go without filler words in conversation. You’d need to be well spoken and thoughtful in every conversation to avoid using them.

Pause Break.

Yes. I stick “honestly” in too many places, and just have a big issue always feeling like I need to qualify everything.

Why use more word when less word work

Filler words carry meaning, even if they don’t have specific definitions in context. Like, “like” has a dictionary definition, but if you use it as, like, a filler word, you aren’t using that definition (necessarily), but it still conveys something about how the speaker is thinking. They don’t just pop up in speech at random. I like catching them and trying to interpret why speakers insert them where they do.

Like, “lowkey” is usually* sometimes used to soften harsh language e.g. “I’m lowkey gonna murder Sarah if she doesn’t stop chewing her gum with her mouth open”. Kinda how “kinda” works as a filler to tone down whatever is being said. I don’t actually want to murder Sarah, I just kinda want to murder her. I don’t even know if I would call them “proper filler words” in the same sense that “like” is, since they do have a particular function that “like” as a filler lacks. More research is needed it seems.

For me, I let 'em fly. If I had to deliver a speech I would probably include fewer than I usually use in casual conversation, but I don’t hold with the rule that they’re strictly to be avoided. I think they’re neat.

* edit: I just know how I’ve heard it used, I have no idea how it’s usually used. I’m lowkey not in the lowkey demographic.

No, I mean I don’t use them needlessly or whatever. I kinda use them to sorta let my thoughts buffer.

For some reason, I have an incredibly difficult time not saying like.

I bet if there were a word cloud of mymost commonly used words of all of my posts, “like” would be the sun in my fucking word solar system.