A person can not always be aware of how he speaks in everyday life and even in business communication. Very common is the habit of using so-called parasite words in speech. These weedy words, which have no semantic load, usually serve for a bunch of words and make speech poorer.
What are parasite words
Weedy words are often so rooted in the vocabulary of a person that they are not recognized at all. For this reason, getting rid of parasite words can be difficult. They distort the natural and habitual rhythm of speech, making it difficult to understand the essence of the speech message.
Parasite words have their own function: they help fill in the pauses and connect the individual parts of sentences in the transmission of thoughts in verbal form.
The list of weedy words is quite wide. Surely you had to catch such constructions in the interlocutor’s speech: “in general, ” “as it were, ” “this, ” “well, ” “so to speak, ” “this is the thing, ” “like him.” Recently, the word Ok ("okay"), which came from the English language, has become very widespread among young people.
Individual parasite words are occasionally used by people who are difficult to suspect of illiteracy or a low level of speech culture. But if you insert weedy words into speech very often and out of place, they can ruin the impression of you for a long time. It is very uncomfortable to listen to a person who inserts words with parasitic functions into almost every sentence.
In speech, not only parasitic words can be used, but also individual sounds or their combinations that carry the same function. You have probably heard from a TV screen the speech of a person being interviewed. Trying to put their thoughts into words, people who are not accustomed to public speeches often draw sounds in such a situation: "uh", "mmm" and so on.
Weed words - an indicator of general and speech culture
The appearance of weed words and whole speech structures in a person’s speech is often explained by the characteristics of his emotional state. If your interlocutor does not know the subject of the conversation, he is worried, makes unreasonably long pauses in his speech, hesitates, trying to find a suitable comparison or word. And here words come to his aid that do not carry any semantic load. They help fill in the pauses and give time to think about the answer.
Words-parasites often appear in the speech of a completely literate person, when the topic of conversation is very significant for him.
Among verbal garbage there is also what is considered indecent in any cultural society. We are talking about profanity. Elements of foul language, without a doubt, speak of an extremely low level of general culture. Swearing carries a very strong expressive charge. In some cases, socially acceptable substitutes for obscene words are used, for example, “Christmas tree-sticks”. Even from such seemingly innocuous expressions it is better to refrain, even if the situation has an emotional reaction.
If you notice signs of weedy words in your speech, try to take them under control. Awareness of speech deficiency is the first step towards eliminating it. Constant control over the quality of your speech will help you more accurately express thoughts and become a pleasant conversationalist.
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