Sooner or later, almost every person begins to think about the words parasites, which are gradually introduced into speech. Over time, they merge so much with habitual communication that they become invisible. You start using them at any opportunity, without thinking about their relevance and, especially, what they mean. And this feature of speech is transformed into a real problem, which is called embolophrasia.
If you don't start fighting it, you will harm yourself. It becomes unpleasant to communicate with such a person. The spoken language becomes polluted, incomprehensible and annoying. Over time, the habit takes root, and it becomes extremely difficult to fight it. However, with your great desire, it is still possible to do this.
origin of name
This term refers to an organism that exists and maintains its vital functions at the expense of another organism. Speech “garbage”, the use of which occurs unconsciously, distorts the meaning of what is said, as if absorbing and eating it. This precise definition is given by experts.
They feed on your beautiful speech. That is why such words acquired the same name. Over time, they begin to occupy a larger share in the dialogue and become more popular than other phrases and statements.
The reason for the appearance of “garbage” in our speech
“Extra” words begin to appear first during dialogues or a report, when a forced pause occurs. People seem to be trying to fill the gap that has arisen in this way, just so as not to remain silent and thereby not look stupid.
Other causes of this speech problem include:
- banal excitement;
- ignorance of the topic of the conversation itself;
- difficult situation during a conversation;
- poor vocabulary.
In all these cases, people are trying to get out of the situation and cope with their insecurities. Therefore, “extra” phrases that he wants to get rid of come to his aid.
CONCLUSIONS:
Indeed, colloquial speech, completely devoid of parasitic words, seems artificial, “sterile-clean.” However, it is difficult to recognize this as a disadvantage. And when there are too many filler words, they make it difficult to understand and spoil the overall impression of a person’s speech. Everything is good in moderation. There are literary characters whose speech consists entirely of filler words. Remember Anfisa Tikhonovna, the character of A.N. Ostrovsky in “Wolves and Sheep” and her lines? Alas, such characters are found not only in works of fiction. In addition, it is important that the speaker's entire speech makes sense. And you even need to know how to use parasites. We do not divide words into good and bad. The word itself is not a parasite, but from excessive and inappropriate use it can turn into a parasite (more on this later).
You won’t believe it, but some OK participants turned out to be supporters of the position “My parasitic words are part of me. And I won't give them to anyone. I’m already a confident person and I don’t need to bother getting rid of parasitic words.” If you suddenly recognize yourself, I suggest you think about the following: • When you speak in public (and always), it doesn’t occur to you not to brush your teeth or wash your clothes, because you are a person. Why should speech be unkempt and littered? Every word is a parasite - a coffee stain on the white shirt of your narrative. • For everyone for whom individualism, personal style, personal brand matters: Clear speech in our time, unfortunately, is a rare phenomenon - your interlocutors will definitely distinguish you from many others, and if you are different, they will remember you.
Why it is necessary to fight verbal garbage
The words parasites in our speech are perceived negatively by other people. And this is not surprising. Such empty and most senseless techniques only pollute your style. As an interlocutor, you begin to look like this:
- uncertain;
- not interested;
- unconvincing;
- carelessly;
- confused;
- pointless.
Such proposals turn into a stream of water. She irritates the interlocutor, who then transfers his negativity onto the person in response. It becomes difficult to understand you. Communication becomes difficult and ceases to bring that same pleasure. You cease to be interesting as an interlocutor. Therefore, it is imperative to fight such words.
It should also be understood that confused speech will begin to negatively affect the mind over time. Thoughts will be confused, and the most incorrect, superficial impression will be created about you as a person. So why harm yourself and speak in such ugly language.
Are there any positive aspects?
It is impossible to speak about the words parasites only in a negative way. They allow you to speed up the presentation and give it an emotional coloring. This is especially true for the acting profession, when you need to characterize the type and appearance of your hero through dialogue or monologue. This may be of benefit to them.
An example in some cases are professional speakers. They may also use speech "garbage". Using such techniques allows you to defuse an overly tense atmosphere or add a touch of humor to a serious, boring report. But this is done skillfully and to a specific place. And there is no question what language they communicate in.
What to do if you can’t cope on your own: the 7Spsy method
“On the Internet I found a lot of advice on how to get rid of filler words and obscenities. I tried to follow them, I even made a bet with a colleague for a large sum of money that I could last a month without swearing in the workplace. And for every “uh,” “well,” and “like,” he put ten into the piggy bank. In the end, I lost the bet and exchanged a bunch of bills for small change so that I had something to throw into my piggy bank. But the bad habit remained with me.”
— Evgeniy, 35 years old, auditor
What to do if all the methods you know of to get rid of parasitic words did not bring results? In this case, there is probably a deep-rooted habit based on some underlying problem. It is important to determine in what specific situations and in dialogues with which people you most often use intrusive expressions, what they can say about your personality and behavior. Perhaps the habit of using parasitic words or obscene expressions developed against the background of some other addiction. You can identify the true cause and correct speech habits using a modern method of behavioral psychology - 7Spsy behavior modification technology. 7Spsy is a patented technique based on the theories of I. P. Pavlov, B. F. Skinner, A. A. Ukhtomsky and others. Classes on the 7Spsy behavior modification technology are conducted remotely. The method allows you to identify hidden attitudes and get rid of persistent habits and addictions in up to 6 weeks. All work is carried out in complete confidentiality. A psychologist will keep in touch with you throughout the course. You can communicate with him through any convenient communication channel: by phone, in online chats or by e-mail.
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The 7Spsy course will help you get rid of filler words and teach you how to express yourself beautifully. As a result of successfully completing the course, you will change your speech style, stop using junk words, and learn to express yourself beautifully and easily.
Sources:
- Well, in short, in general, it’s like a test. Tricky words that will give you away
- (https://www.nsk.kp.ru/daily/26517.3/3532730/
- What parasitic words tell us about us (https://www.psychologies.ru/articles/chto-soobschayut-o-nas-slova-parazityi/
- “In short” or “as if”: what words do Russians most often use in speech?
- (https://vostokmedia.com/news/society/13-07-2019/koroche-ili-kak-by-kakie-slova-chasche-vsego-ispolzuyut-rossiyane-v-rechi
- Don't yell, but speak! (https://rberega.info/archives/2833
- Severskaya O.I., “Speaking Russian with Olga Svereskaya”, Slovo, 2004
List of the most common filler words and their meaning
Many people, including you, may not even realize that their conversation is full of verbal “garbage”, the meaning of which is difficult to explain. To understand how correctly and beautifully a person speaks, you can familiarize yourself with the following list:
- uncertain “actually”;
- indefinite “as if”;
- conservative "means";
- hasty “in short”;
- self-confident “in fact”;
- awkward “by the way”;
- irresponsible “simply”;
- lazy “this is it.”
All these expressions can become an obsessive habit that will crowd out beautiful, literary vocabulary. Many experts agree that the clogging of speech with such phrases occurs at a psychological level.
The words parasites are divided into several types:
- Conditional - interjections instead of pauses. A person puts semantic emphasis with the words “here,” “uh,” “well,” “in short.”
- Emotional - exaggeration, dramatization of what was said. “It’s just real,” “no, well, you saw it.”
- Initial - used to start your story. “In short”, “In general”, “Kinda”.
- Contact - appear in a conversation to provide feedback to the interlocutor. “You know?”, “this sucks, right?”, “mmm...”.
The words parasites are not an important part of speech, they simply complement the story. But not always in a good way.
Exercises against verbal “garbage”
To forget about this problem forever, you can try doing special exercises regularly. They will help you learn to speak beautifully. There is a set of measures aimed at eliminating unwanted expressions from the lexicon. It gives a pronounced effect and a truly positive result if a person approaches his problem meaningfully.
There is no need to try to get rid of these words in a short period of time. Your speech has been clogged for years, so don't try to clear it in just a few weeks. You will have to be patient, which will help eradicate the existing problem.
Constant practice
Only constant practice allows you to cope with such a problem and forget about the words parasites. It's worth practicing every chance you get. Especially if it is a public speech or report that will be read in front of a huge audience.
Through constant practice, you will speak meaningfully, slowly and thoughtfully. This is the only way to achieve your goal. Through public speaking and preliminary preparation of monologues, “junk” words, the use of which was previously habitual, will gradually begin to leave your vocabulary. And then your speech will begin to improve, and you will be able to communicate the way professional speakers and real intellectuals speak.
Breathing training
The process of getting rid of such words is impossible to imagine without proper breathing. More often they appear when unexpected pauses occur. And to prevent this from happening, you need to learn to control yourself by taking a deep breath.
Every time you want to insert “extra” expressions, you need to take a good breath and use the resulting pause to correctly construct and use the next phrase. Such a silent pause that arises will look much better than if people speak as if, like, and so on.
Stop worrying
The fight against verbal “garbage” should be based on the factors that provoke the emergence of such a problem. One of them is excessive anxiety. When your own thoughts are not clearly formulated, they are constantly confused, and the thread of the logical narrative is constantly lost, then sentences cannot be constructed correctly.
To cope with this and start, as they say, constructing sentences beautifully, you need to learn to manage your anxiety. Try to breathe in as much oxygen as possible, concentrate and pull yourself together. People speak in parasitic phrases more often when excitement takes over their consciousness.
With an implicit psychological interpretation
- “Wow” is something like a curse that a person sends to himself. If we analyze this expression verbatim, then this is exactly what it prophesies.
- The parasitic word “well” in psychology means a limited vocabulary, fear or inability to express one’s opinion, or the highest degree of excitement. “E” and “this” also belong to this group.
- The parasitic word “type” means that the person who uses it is not confident in his statements.
- “On” usually indicates a lover of swear words who is trying to restrain himself and seem well-mannered.
- “Clearly”, “quickly”, “clearly” - are used when a person is trying to make his interlocutor look more stupid and show his superiority over him.
- “You know” is used by people who want to attract attention, who want to be trusted more. This filler word gives the conversation a more personal emotional overtones.
Replacing words
When it is difficult to eradicate “garbage” from your speech, you can try to replace it with an appropriate, but literary analogue. You need to write down all the “unnecessary” words on paper and opposite each one indicate what it can mean, but in a more beautiful language.
New analogues used instead of familiar speech patterns will need to be learned. And then, every time you want to insert verbal “garbage” into the middle of a conversation, you will have to remember its replacement synonym. This technique really works. But what the subsequent result will be depends on your patience and desire.
Three steps to getting rid of parasitic words
It is important to detect them in time in your speech - record yourself, for example, on a voice recorder, listen to it yourself and let your friends listen to the result. An intelligent person striving for self-improvement will be able to immediately analyze the pros and cons of his speech; it is enough to carry out a simple analysis.
You need to understand the reasons for their appearance - here you can already trace the psychoneuronal connections that contributed to the appearance of this or that vocabulary block in your mind.
After identifying parasites, it is necessary to arrange for their rapid elimination or gradual replacement.
External control
To start speaking beautifully and without using parasitic phrases, you need to use the help of outside people. It is better to enlist the support of loved ones who can help you. Let your loved ones communicate with you as often as possible, who will count and write down in a notebook every parasitic word you say.
This will be the best motivation. You will want to improve your style, making it correct and beautiful. You will be able to analyze the results obtained from such training, thus working on the mistakes made. Soon you will definitely speak clearly, competently and meaningfully.
It is difficult to clean up your speech on your own and eliminate from it the verbal “garbage” that many people around you say. This will require a lot of time and effort. It’s better to contact Anton Dukhovsky’s school. Thanks to our Oratories courses, you can become a professional speaker and the best presenter, which will always be associated with correct speech and a rich vocabulary.
Some rules of euphemisms
Sometimes it's better to remain silent. Parasitic words often become the result of a pause when there is nothing more to say to the interlocutor. Try to refrain from discussing a topic that is unfamiliar to you and does not excite you. After all, parasitic words penetrate the loopholes of negligence and ignorance.
External control. It would be very good to have yourself “surveilled.” Ask your regular interlocutor to keep an eye on the flow of your speech and catch the next parasite in time.
Fines and team assistance. It happens that a person is educated, but as soon as the infection becomes attached to his tongue, he and the people around him suffer from repeated verbal “occurrences”. The only thing that will help is public censure and fines, for example, a couple of coins in the jar for every objectionable word. Believe me, not even two weeks will pass before the entire team will verbally “get better”! You can also sign an agreement on purity of speech (with yourself or the team)
