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Iclearwater Posted 8 years ago
Vocabulary

You know

"Well, man, Virginia, you know I just ah ... boy! Things have been, they've been heavy, you know. Just, you know, my wife was... my wife was run over by a snail and... you know, I've got four kids and two of them are gangsters and I think maybe I did something wrong but I just can't get a grasp on what it was,"

Hello, the above is a conversation I cited from the book named Frogs into Princes by Grinder and Bandler.

Does the speaker really suppose the listener would really possibly know what the speaker is talking about, when he says "you know"?

I encountered "you know" several times in some TV programme and movies in English. I feel "you know" doesn't mean the listener is supposed to really know about, but the speaker is being interrupted by his own thoughts, so he has to say something to bridge the gap, meanwhile he is reorganising his thoughts. Do you think so?

Is the usage of "you know" common in the expressions of native speakers of English?

Thanks!

  

Top answer

In this sort of use, "you know" is essentially just a filler. It has no actual meaning. It may, in moderation, be intended to keep the listener engaged, and encourage confirmation that they are comprehending, but your example is excessive.

— GPY

  • In this sort of use, "you know" is essentially just a filler.
  • It has no actual meaning.
  • It may, in moderation, be intended to keep the listener engaged, and encourage confirmation that they are comprehending, but your example is excessive.
  • With some people, certain filler words and phrases become such a habit that they can hardly speak a sentence without using them several times.
  • "like" is another example that afflicts many younger English speakers.
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1 Answers
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In this sort of use, "you know" is essentially just a filler. It has no actual meaning. It may, in moderation, be intended to keep the listener engaged, and encourage confirmation that they are comprehending, but your example is excessive.

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