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Use of filler words seems to be proscribed as bad or incorrect, yet they also seem so common that they are part of spoken language. Whether desirable or not, are there grammatical rules that describe their empirical use? For instance, has a modern-day William Bullokar observed current spoken language and established rules for when you begin a sentence with "so" vs "um" ("so, great job today!" vs "um, great job today!") and the order in which you can combine them ("um, so basically like, ahem, ...")

Is it bad behavior to add filler words such as "so", "um" in business speak?

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  • People unconsciously use er (uh) and um so that they don't stop speaking while they think of the next word. The habit of starting an explanation with So seems to have sprung up in the last few years; I would never do it, but I've often heard it on radio and TV. – Kate Bunting Mar 10 '20 at 09:27
  • In business-speak, listen carefully to the native speakers and imitate their behavior. This is not a grammatical matter so much as a cultural norm, and you have to see what people actually do, not what anybody says they do, or should do. – John Lawler Mar 10 '20 at 15:43

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