Ah, I mean, like, well, so, you know, why do people talk this way? Right?: Felony assault on the English language

by John Culea

Borrowing words from Shakespeare; To pause or not to pause, that is the challenge, not the question. Every day, millions of Americans converse in a language John Culea calls FSL; Fillers as a Second Language. Fillers are largely useless words and sounds we hear in sentences from people of all ages, professions, genders and positions in society. “Ah, I mean, like, well, so why do people talk this way? Right? Felony assault on the English language” examines what has happened, where a national dependence on fillers came from, who are the offenders and most importantly, how people can exorcise filler words from their speech with a simple technique. “Ah, I mean, like . . . “ lists the most common filler words and names prime offenders including politicians, movie stars, television news anchors, reporters and athletes. While the book may irritate some people, it also can be a resource for teachers and could be the one gift parents (after reading it themselves) give their children that changes their lives forever. For 31 years, John Culea was a television news anchor/reporter followed by ten years as the media and communications director for a San Diego County Supervisor. He also taught journalism and writing at the university level. Now retired, John has written four novels, eight of historical fiction and three works of non-fiction. He lives in San Diego with his wife, Patti.

217 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2019

Reviews

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know how the author would be able to turn this topic into a full novel, but he did so quite effortlessly with lots of examples from politicians, pastors and people he knows. Comprehensive look at what fillers people use, why they use them and how to cut down on your own use as well as reasons why you should. John Culea does address that sometimes fillers help your speech sound less formal but there is emphasis on changing your speech when fillers make you sound less intelligent. My personal favorite in the book was the short paragraph on the word "anyways". Always grates on my nerves when people use this word that is not a word and the author succinctly explains why it is not a word: "anyway is an adverb and it is impossible for adverbs to be plural. Additionally, saying 'anyways' makes you sound stupid." My thoughts exactly!