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Um, I don’t quite believe this, but there are … uh, hundreds of — you know — linguists and psychologists studying the little … er, fumbles we make when we have, like, um … conversations.

In fact, “uh” and “um” are sounds we all use a lot without thinking when we’re searching for a name, or a word, or trying to say something, uh … diplomatically, or um, whatever.

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When I watch cable news panels I’m amazed by the um-lessness of some professional motor-mouths, like CNN’s John King, who rattles on for 30 minutes without a single, uh … um.

But the rest of us are ummers of one kind or another. Older people often use “y’know”, while teenagers prefer to use “like” — as in “like you know what I mean when I say like, I ‘liked’ that guy, but I don’t literally… like, like him.”

According to large studies, men use “um” 40 per cent more often than women do — apparently because we’re hesitant to yield the floor and admit we’ve run out of real words to say. So listen up guys, eh?