# Need answer fast: What's the name for words like 'you know' 'like' etc? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 3, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-whats-the-name-for-words-like-you-know-like-etc/501813 "2009-07-03T14:24:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-whats-the-name-for-words-like-you-know-like-etc/501813/1 "2009-07-03T14:24:02Z")
I know this has been discussed before but my search skills are weak. Is there a term for words used to fill speech that don’t actaully contribute to the message being communicated? As in: So, **you know** , I went to the bar and, **like** , totally chatted up this cute boy. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-whats-the-name-for-words-like-you-know-like-etc/501813/2 "2009-07-03T14:30:29Z")
A quick look at Wiki says it could be an [Interjection](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interjection), a [Speech Disfluency](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_disfluency), or a [Filler](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filler_(linguistics)) word. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-whats-the-name-for-words-like-you-know-like-etc/501813/3 "2009-07-03T14:36:22Z")
I just heard the tail-end of an NPR segment the other night and the person being interviewed referred to them as self-interrupters. He said that they occurred in every language and that they are used to prevent others from interrupting while we think about what we are trying to say. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-whats-the-name-for-words-like-you-know-like-etc/501813/4 "2009-07-03T14:47:54Z")
I think I shall call them ‘Interjectors or filler words’! Thanks so much, I’m writing a manual on transcribing and I needed a section title. Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-whats-the-name-for-words-like-you-know-like-etc/501813/5 "2009-07-03T19:54:23Z")
You might also want to consider [discourse particle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discourse_particle) ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-whats-the-name-for-words-like-you-know-like-etc/501813/6 "2009-07-04T04:39:15Z")
I’ve always heard of them referred to as filler words. Interjections tend to be either proto-sentences or closer to an ejaculation, characterized by an exclamation point in written language. (That sounds so wrong… but I couldn’t think of a better way to put it…) ETA: but interjection has become a larger group of words and phrases and no long is _purely_ ejaculations and proto-sentences. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-whats-the-name-for-words-like-you-know-like-etc/501813/7 "2009-07-04T06:59:38Z")
In linguistics, words that add nothing to the meaning of the sentence are known as [expletives](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expletive), whether they’re profane words or not. In common English, that sense has been overtaken by the sense of a swearword, whether it adds meaning to a sentence or not. ---
**Author:** ![Casserole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b77776/32.png) [@Casserole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casserole)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-whats-the-name-for-words-like-you-know-like-etc/501813/8 "2009-07-04T14:40:31Z")
If middle school has taught me anything, Interjections are not the same as filler words. Interjections would be “No way!” “Radical!” and “Awesome!” ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-answer-fast-whats-the-name-for-words-like-you-know-like-etc/501813/9 "2009-07-04T14:55:27Z")
> [@Casserole](#): > > If middle school has taught me anything, Interjections are not the same as filler words. > > Interjections would be “No way!” “Radical!” and “Awesome!” First off, see above. Second, an ejaculation (a word or mini-sentence) followed with the characteristic exclamation point is a type of interjection, but it is not the only type of interjection. > [@](#): > > Sometimes interjections are marked by the exclamation point to emphasize their rich emphatic content. In most instances interjections are isolated by one comma, or within a pair of commas, in order to identify them as being interjections. from [Corollary Theorems.com](http://www.corollarytheorems.com/Grammar/interjection.htm) The example they give on their site is of the word _well_. An example would be “Well, I never would have thought this conversation would have continued so long.” In that case, _well_ is both an interjection and a filler word.