Why do people say "YOU KNOW" while talking?

Hello, Playstation--- and welcome to English Forums.

'You know' is just a rather boring fluency device in the spoken language-- it is a place marker, allowing the speaker to continue while s/he thinks of the next block of language.

Saying "you know" several time during a conversation is just a "bad habit". There is no other excuse for doing it. Just like some people over use saying "I think". Both are just bad habits and have absolutely no good reason to be used.

It is sad that out present president abuses these "bad habits", along with saying "um" many, many times during most of his conversations. We should

AnonymousSaying "you know" several time during a conversation is just a "bad habit". There is no other excuse for doing it.

Actually, there are good excuses. They are called "fillers", or "discourse markers", they have several functions and they are found in lots of other languages (maybe most? or all? I don't know).

Oh, like... my dad? He hated "you know" with, like, a passion. He would so interrupt us if we were telling a story and used, uh... "you know" and be all like "No, I don't know. But I'm hoping you'll tell me so I will."

Although I find listening to Hillary Clinton's pervasive use of "Uhhhh" in her speech to be almost as annoying as "like" and "you know."

I believe that the linguistic term is "articulated pause". Reasons for uhhhhm vs yaknow and others may be identifiable from person to person.

Grammar GeekOh, like... my dad? He hated "you know" with, like, a passion. He would so interrupt us if we were telling a story and used, uh... "you know" and be all like "No, I don't know. But I'm hoping you'll tell me so I will." ...

"... the United States English adolescent hedge like is a discourse particle signalling a possibl

That quote, like, took the words right out of my mouth!

Kooyeen, thanks for the link -- I liked the Wiki article about fillers in various languages.

I'm sorry, but I so totally did not, like, understand that at all!

It's a form of verbal retartdation practiced by people who are too lazy to think as they speak. it not only makes them sound lazy, but stupid. I instantly think less of someone who stammers through a sentence peppered with "you know" "like" "ok?" If people need confirmation every 5 seconds from who they talk to then there's obviously a problem with the way they understand the interaction between