This is one awareness that is now an annoyance and I seek a solution: I can no longer listen to a conversation, my own included, without listening to all the "you know"’s. This interferes with my hearing of what is being said, with my understanding, my receptiveness. It affects communication!
It isn’t really "you know" that is said, which, at least, suggests "you know?" and a query inviting a response. It’s more a habitual sound. Yuno.
I counted 47 "yuno"’s in a recent CBC Radio interview. During a three minute segment. That’s a "yuno" every three seconds or so. The interviewer was not responsible for one of them; the interviewee batted out all 47.
Which gives me hope. Because when I caught myself, this morning, spewing out 11 "yuno"’s in a phone conversation of perhaps two minutes duration, one every ten seconds, I decided enough was enough and that interviewer came to mind. What do they teach those announcers at Broadcasting School that keeps them free of such speech tics? I know the phenomenon must have a name; hang on a sec while I go and Google…………
…………No luck coming up with a term referring to the habit in the context to which I am referring; many (!) sites dealing with word repetition as a good thing in learning and literature, etc; in medical parlance it’s called preservation.
Whatever it is called – how does one get rid of it? Word editors would get it out of my article or story quick as a wink. Who are the speech editors? What are their tools? Do you know?