the.com/conversational markers
the verbal duct tape holding human speech together while your brain catches up.
means small words and phrases like well, so, you know, and I mean that organize talk, signal intent, and buy thinking time without adding literal content.
from linguists started studying these seriously in the 1980s, notably Deborah Schiffrin's 1987 work Discourse Markers, once they realized so-called meaningless filler actually does structural work in conversation.
not fillerthey guide turn-taking, topic shifts, and listener attention
universal habitevery known language has its own set
processing timebuy speakers milliseconds to plan the next clause
stigma mismatcheducated speakers use them just as much as anyone