I have touched on the horror of the useless expression, you know, in some of my previous writings. Happily, my campaign against you know has been largely successful and only professional athletes and other mentally challenged individuals still use it. They elicit sympathy rather than irritation. Their innocent ignorance cannot be condoned but looked upon with tolerance. But----
But even more insidious phrases have infected our erstwhile beautiful English language.This infection is far more serious than the now fading you know. There are three of them, the worst being if you will followed by if I may and (right out of the ghetto) you know what I mean. These repulsive and totally unnecessary phrases come out of the mouths and pens of professional speakers, politicians and writers. The politicians automatically lose my vote. The other writers and speakers loose all credibility.
I, if you will, am angered and,if I may, saddened by the degradation of English, if you know what I mean.
I reserve the right to expound on he/she at a later date
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2 comments:
It think is about people feeling uncomfortable with pauses in coversation. There will always be something people use to fill in the silence.
"ummm", "well", "you know", the others you added, plus ones we have failed to mention.
I resented it as a kid, but am glad you and mom attemped to show us kids just how often we used pointless fillers.
Another good post - but if I may say so - I was disappointed that it was not a follow up on your earlier ancestors blog.
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