Most professional speakers practice speaking to eliminate pauses using the superfluous 'er', 'um', etc. Some get much more verbal. They pepper their talk with, 'to be honest', as though we think they were likely to be dishonest and admit it. Some embellish this with, 'to be perfectly honest'. How would one go about being imperfectly honest? Another, frequently heard is, 'you know' and variations on that such as, 'you know what I mean' and 'you understand', you know?.
Additions such as these seem to be colloquial and age-determined, used during a pause of breath, and used while trying to form the next verbal expression.. Some I most frequently heard are, 'like' (and there I was, like, looking at him straight in the eye and he, like, said to me....', 'right?' (and there I was, right?, looking at him straight in the eye and he, right:? said to me....), .and 'I mean'.(and, I mean, there I was and, I mean, I looked him straight in the eye and, I mean, I said....)
Others are more personalized or creative. One person I know adds, 'and all...' at the end of thoughts or sentences. Yet another heard often is, 'having said that...'
If some you, my readers, can add to this list, I would appreciate it very much. You can do so by leaving comments on this blog and I will add to the list and, perhaps, add the new ones at a later date. Some tips to avoid using these can be found on this site.
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