Irritating phrases

I asked ai about this:

That so many of us are drawn to comment upon this is in accord with wider research that indicates this to be an autistic trait.

These words and phrases are primarily known as filler words or fillers. Depending on how they are used, they can also be categorised more specifically: 

• Filler Words: Words like "um," "ah," or "like" that bridge pauses in speech.
• Pleonasms: Using more words than necessary to convey a meaning (e.g., "free gift" or "at the end of the day").
• Crutch Words: Words people rely on habitually to give themselves time to think, such as "basically" or "actually."
• Discourse Markers: Phrases that manage the flow of conversation or indicate attitude, like "to be honest" or "look."
• Expletives (Linguistic): In grammar, these are "empty" words that serve a structural purpose but add no meaning, such as the word "it" in "it is raining."
• Intensifiers: Words like "literally" or "very" used to add emphasis, though they are often used as fillers when they don't add actual value. 

Interestingly according to the AI using fewer filler words isn't a "mistake"—it's a sign of a different communication style that prioritises information over social signaling.

And this is perhaps an interesting spin on social communication and autistic people.

I have to really rein in my temptation to "correct" people when they use some type of filler words.  Hehe a really tricky example is when my wife says "we just have to..." when I know that the task involved is far from as simple as being implied...

I think that when I do "correct" people on this it is my way of social signalling - hehe and there's another story about how that is received...

The answer from ai instead suggests one way to avoid being upset by such things is to focus on it being information that is being conveyed a little bit further.  e.g. "basically" or "actually because the person is trying to think what to say next.  Or pleonasms such as "life hack" that impart information about where the person has come to understand the concept of "tips" for how to do things.

Hehe or my wife using "just" to emphasise that she "just wants the thing done (and doesn't want to get involved in thinking about to do it...) 

Anyway, as I used to say to a friend of mine who had a similar habit "at the end of the day - it gets dark ..."

All interesting stuff

:-)

I'm getting fond of AI - rapid collation of information is amazing, as is asking AI to calculate, eg capacity of plant containers. Maybe one day we will regret the way AI is slowly infiltrating everyday life, but when I see progress like robot operations saving lives overseas, I cannot help but cheer them on.

I'm getting fond of AI - rapid collation of information is amazing, as is asking AI to calculate, eg capacity of plant containers. Maybe one day we will regret the way AI is slowly infiltrating everyday life, but when I see progress like robot operations saving lives overseas, I cannot help but cheer them on.