allthingslinguistic:

speibecken:

Lakoff argues that the very things career
coaches advise women to cut out of their speech are actually signs of
highly evolved communication. When we use words like so, I guess, like, actually, and I mean,
we are sending signals to the listener to help them figure out what’s
new, what’s important, or what’s funny. We’re connecting with them.
“Rather than being weakeners or signs of fuzziness of mind, as is often
said, they create cohesion and coherence between what speaker and hearer
together need to accomplish — understanding and sharing,” Lakoff says.
“This is the major job of an articulate social species. If women use
these forms more, it is because we are better at being human.”

Language is not always about making an argument or conveying information in the cleanest, simplest way possible. It’s often about building relationships.

A quote from the article “Can We Just Like, Get Over the Way Women Talk?” which is worth reading in full.