I got to sit behind two young ladies yesterday and could not help overhearing their "conversation" -- every third word was "like"'and every fifth word was "um." Add in a bunch of "you knows" and "wells" and such and their conversation was at least 50% filler. They both talked nonstop as fast as they could, and nothing was said.
Made me wonder. Chinese is a language made up of ideograms and words that express multiple thoughts. It is largely a language of phrases rather than words, as I understand it. I wonder if young speakers have developed an intentional stutter like American girls?
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