BEACHCOMBER 104 YEARS OLD AND STILL AS MEANINGFUL AS EVER...

ALMOST two years ago in this column, in January 2020 as you probably recall, I warned against the alarming increase in the use of the words “I mean” by interviewees on the radio and television. All too often, they would start their answers to questions with those words, sometimes preceded by the equally meaningless “well”.

My warning was ignored and we now face a linguistic pandemic of I means. The other day, I turned on the radio and heard an interviewee beginning an answer with the words: “Oh gosh, well, I mean, yes.” An hour later, someone else started her first answer with “Erm, I mean,” her second with “I mean, yes,” and her third with “Well, I mean.” Another speaker began an answer with “Um, I mean.” That might have made some sense if he had gone on to explain what he meant by “um”, but he didn’t.

These are examples of what linguists call “fillers” – words that fill what would otherwise be an awkward gap while the brain has not yet decided what to say. It is as though the mouth opens to deliver a reply, but the speaker has not yet formulated a response, so all that comes out is “um” or “er”. Or, increasingly often and even less intelligible, “I mean”.

A good deal of research has been done on people’s use of “er”, “um” and “erm”. The main conclusion seem to be that “um” precedes a longer pause than “er”, though it has also been claimed that people use “um” when they’re trying to decide what to say, and “er” when trying to decide how to say it. The length of the pause may also be influenced by the fact that after an “um”, the speaker’s mouth is closed, while an “er” leaves it open and better prepared to say something else.

Recent research also suggests women and teenagers say “um”, while men and older people prefer “er”. It has also been pointed out that Americans say “uh” when the British say “er”.

None of which explains “I mean”. Logically it should be followed by an explanation, clarification or correction of words uttered immediately before the “I mean”. One cannot logically start a reply with the words “I mean” because there is nothing to explain, clarify or correct.

I mean, erm, to be honest, it’s meaningless, innit? Know what I mean?