Unnecessary words

Scanning through The Times online I couldn't help but chuckle at the letter entitled Lost For Words, by Vincent Galea (June 29).

On a recent and rare visit to my birthplace I too noticed the frequent use of certain unnecessary words, such as ovvjament etc. by speakers of the media. Such phrases seem superfluous to the conversation and make the speaker sound ridiculous.

During this short visit of mine, my mother and I could not help bursting out in laughter at the offending speakers using such words, particularly on TV, be they broadcasters or members of the public taking part in a debate. Properly trained speakers are warned of such misuse of superfluous words and phrases.

As for the word "basically" and the uttering of "eh" when used frequently and out of context, this usually denotes that the speaker does not know the subject he/she is talking about well enough. This comes across so often in sales talk in the UK when the salespeople have limited knowledge of the product or service they are selling. He/she always starts by saying, "Well, basically..." when asked to describe the wares. Ask them an in-depth question and they get flummoxed, lost for words and start to waffle. Quite amusing sometimes but often irritating!

Used in the right context and sparsely, words like basically, obviously and so-to-speak enlighten the conversation. But used too often, unnecessarily and out of context, they serve to diminish not only the conversation but also the speaker.

However, such words/phrases are often picked up as a nervous habit. Point them out if you like the person, don't if you don't! If you see what I mean!