Ya Know

By Mick Holien

I really don’t know how or where I learned and certainly not who taught me.

Over the years I have given the Jesuits, few as they were at Gonzaga Prep, a lot of credit but sometimes I think it happened by osmosis.

And no I am not the grammar or punctuation police. I am by no means an expert at either.

The books I have written received their fair share of both during editing but not by me.

Yesterday it was just a little item like the use of annually and as I was verbally sparing – it was like we were in two different divisions – and having difficulty explaining even the extent of the conversation but also correct use of the word.

So let’s stir the pot a bit.

I don’t know whether it may occur because a person lacks the ability to talk or respond spontaneously, nervousness sends one mentally scrambling or they just lack vocabulary.

But it just makes me cringe when the filler phrase “ya know” makes its way so frequently into everyday speech, even from prominent national news folks.

I would enjoy seeing an EEG (electroencephalography) examined so as to observe what is taking place when terms like “ya know” make their way into speech.

Does it lessen anxiety or is there a sense of anxiety that solicits the use of such what I describe as filler terms?

I have tried to remember to examine my own communicative skills in an effort to figure out if I do that myself and have determined I don’t think so.

But here is your homework for the weekend. I am crossing the state north to south and west to east and return and will encounter my fair share of folks so drop a dime and tell me what you – ya know – think.

Just sayin’

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