Why Does Everyone Say ‘Like’ and ‘Um’ All The Time? - Valerie Fridland

Valerie Fridland is a sociolinguist, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Nevada, a researcher and an author. On average we say around 5,000 words every day. But how often have you assessed why you communicate the way you do, or where the words you're using came from? This is where the fascinating field of sociolinguistics comes in, exploring the history of our speech patterns and words' origins to help us develop new and better ways to communicate. Expect to learn why languages evolved to be so complex, how to stop saying ‘like’ so much, how social media has impacted the way we speak, why you keep using “um” and “uh” all the time, why Black Twitter is at the forefront of all cool new lingo, the unexpected origin story of the word ‘Hello’, why I apparently have hard time pronouncing my R’s and much more... Sponsors: Get £150 discount on Eight Sleep products at https://eightsleep.com/modernwisdom (discount automatically applied) Get 10% discount on your first month from BetterHelp at https://betterhelp.com/modernwisdom (discount automatically applied) Get 20% discount on House Of Macadamias’ nuts at https://houseofmacadamias.com/modernwisdom (use code MW20) Extra Stuff: Buy Like Literally Dude - https://amzn.to/41HmKaR Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/ To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom #linguistics #speech #communication - 00:00 Intro 00:20 The Work of a Sociolinguist 04:27 Has English Become Simpler? 14:51 Why We Say ‘Um’ and ‘Uh’ 26:27 Is it Better to Be Silent Than Use Fillers? 30:39 How to Be a More Conscientious Listener 34:26 Why We Say ‘Like’ So Often 44:46 The Cause of Vocal Fry 52:12 Has Social Media Caused a More Informal Language? 1:01:43 Strange Word Developments 1:10:24 Where to Find Valerie - Get access to every episode 10 hours before YouTube by subscribing for free on Spotify - https://spoti.fi/2LSimPn or Apple Podcasts - https://apple.co/2MNqIgw Get my free Reading List of 100 life-changing books here - https://chriswillx.com/books/ - Get in touch in the comments below or head to... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact/

Valerie FridlandguestChris Williamsonhost

May 20, 20231h 12mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: May 20, 2023
Duration: 1h 12m
Channel: Modern Wisdom
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Valerie Fridland is a sociolinguist, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Nevada, a researcher and an author. On average we say around 5,000 words every day. But how often have you assessed why you communicate the way you do, or where the words you're using came from? This is where the fascinating field of sociolinguistics comes in, exploring the history of our speech patterns and words' origins to help us develop new and better ways to communicate. Expect to learn why languages evolved to be so complex, how to stop saying ‘like’ so much, how social media has impacted the way we speak, why you keep using “um” and “uh” all the time, why Black Twitter is at the forefront of all cool new lingo, the unexpected origin story of the word ‘Hello’, why I apparently have hard time pronouncing my R’s and much more... Sponsors: Get £150 discount on Eight Sleep products at https://eightsleep.com/modernwisdom (discount automatically applied) Get 10% discount on your first month from BetterHelp at https://betterhelp.com/modernwisdom (discount automatically applied) Get 20% discount on House Of Macadamias’ nuts at https://houseofmacadamias.com/modernwisdom (use code MW20) Extra Stuff: Buy Like Literally Dude - https://amzn.to/41HmKaR Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/ To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom #linguistics #speech #communication - 00:00 Intro 00:20 The Work of a Sociolinguist 04:27 Has English Become Simpler? 14:51 Why We Say ‘Um’ and ‘Uh’ 26:27 Is it Better to Be Silent Than Use Fillers? 30:39 How to Be a More Conscientious Listener 34:26 Why We Say ‘Like’ So Often 44:46 The Cause of Vocal Fry 52:12 Has Social Media Caused a More Informal Language? 1:01:43 Strange Word Developments 1:10:24 Where to Find Valerie - Get access to every episode 10 hours before YouTube by subscribing for free on Spotify - https://spoti.fi/2LSimPn or Apple Podcasts - https://apple.co/2MNqIgw Get my free Reading List of 100 life-changing books here - https://chriswillx.com/books/ - Get in touch in the comments below or head to... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact/

SPEAKERS

Valerie Fridland
guest
Chris Williamson
host
Narrator
other

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Modern Wisdom, featuring Valerie Fridland and Chris Williamson, Why Does Everyone Say ‘Like’ and ‘Um’ All The Time? - Valerie Fridland explores why ‘Um,’ ‘Uh,’ and ‘Like’ Reveal How Language Really Works Sociolinguist Valerie Fridland explains how language constantly changes under two main forces: cognitive/articulatory pressures that make speech easier to produce, and social pressures tied to identity, status, and group belonging. She shows that features we criticize—like filler words, “like,” vocal fry, and dialect traits—are actually systematic tools that aid planning, comprehension, nuance, and social signaling. Large, global languages tend to shed certain grammatical complexities while gaining new kinds of complexity, such as stricter word order or richer discourse markers. The conversation also covers how social media spreads, rather than invents, linguistic trends and how biases against certain ways of speaking have real social and legal consequences.

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