Like, what do you mean Gen Z does not want to you filler words anymore? When we speak, we use so many filler expressions that trying to do without them is almost impossible

In recent times, especially on TikTok, many young Americans have been testing themselves with a rather peculiar challenge: it involves speaking for a full minute without resorting to any filler word, that is, those terms or filling expressions that are used very often and more or less unconsciously while speaking, such as – in English – “like”, “so”, “you know”, among many others. Almost always, however, the challenge fails after a short time, demonstrating just how difficult it is not to use filler words – often, in the comments on these videos, people say they tried it themselves without success.

From a linguistic point of view, these expressions are not random at all: they are called discourse markers and exist in all languages – including sign languages, such as LIS, and dialects. Filler words help speakers organize their thoughts, buy a few moments to think, and adapt their speech to the situation and to the listener. In short, rather than being “bad language habits,” they are useful and natural tools of everyday communication, with their own history and functions – which in recent times seem to have fascinated younger generations.

The importance of filler words in spoken language

As explained by the New York Times, filler words represent a sort of pause for the brain during the processing of a speech: they help speakers gain time to organize what they want to say. In reality, however, their role is not limited solely to searching for the most appropriate term or concept. Filler words are also used to manage individual interactions: for example, they are used to signal that someone is about to take the floor, to attract the listener’s attention, or to indicate that one is ready to hand the conversation over to someone else, among other things.

But it’s not only speakers who use them. Listeners also rely on these expressive signals, for example to intervene, interrupt, or simply let their interlocutor know that they are involved in the conversation. In most cases, however, the use of filler words happens in a completely automatic way. These filling expressions are almost always produced without realizing it, just as happens with many aspects of body language or voice intonation. This is why people often don’t notice how much they use them, at least until they try – for fun – to eliminate them entirely, as those who attempted to complete the "No filler word" challenge on TikTok discovered.

Filler words and linguistics

Linguistics began to systematically study filler words starting in the 1980s. Over these decades, it has emerged that discursive expressions do not arise out of nowhere, but almost always develop from already existing words, which over time take on new functions in spoken language. Essentially, very common terms such as adverbs, conjunctions, or verbs are “recycled” and transformed into signals useful for managing conversation, rather than for conveying specific content. Among the scholars who have studied discourse markers are Deborah Schiffrin, who helped define their role in discourse organization, Bruce Fraser, who analyzed them as pragmatic tools, and Laurel Brinton, who studied their historical evolution in languages.

The growing interest in filler words within linguistics is linked to a broader shift that took place in the field. Until much of the last century, the discipline focused mainly on written language and on “ideal” grammatical structures. Starting in the 1980s, however, attention increasingly shifted to spoken language and everyday language use. It was in this context that filler words began to be considered not as exceptions in discourse, but as fundamental elements of communication. Today we know that they are part of how languages function and that studying them helps us better understand how people think, interact, and construct meanings and narratives while talking – precisely what has fascinated younger generations.