Like, literally, and the rise of filler wordsPublished inThe Medium BlogSent as aNewsletter2 min readJust now-- Hello again!Issue #181: how inspiration works, indigenous languages, and doing it rightBy Harris SockelI was watching a recording of myself in a Zoom meeting recently and realized I say like too much. Every remark I made was riddled with like, uh, or um. It was embarrassing, though the most embarrassing part is how unaware of it I usually am.Too much is totally subjective, but I think Ron Miller would agree. Hes a historian and educator who, in a recent Medium post, examined the rise of two of the most common (and most hated?) filler words: like and literally.Lets take like. Its a word meant to avoid precision. When you use like, youre intentionally distancing yourself from what youre saying. Its a device for, in Millers words, withholding commitment to a position or an idea.Enter: Literally. People love to hate on millennials who use literally in figurative contexts (no, youre not LITERALLY DYING even if youre laughing really hard). In fact, the word has been used figuratively since at least the 1700s: Charlotte Bront wrote about being literally suffocated by someones bad attitude. Still, its exploded in popularity over the last 20 years roughly coinciding with the rise of the internet.In a world where so much of what we create and react to exists in our minds and on screens, Miller argues, we want to hold on to some scrap of truth so we desperately insist that things or ideas are literally what they are and not political disinformation, digital manipulations or ephemeral products of social construction.Maybe these words arent popular just because they make getting through a conversation easier. Maybe theyre popular because they help us express aspects of being alive right now that are really hard to communicate in other ways: In so many aspects of life and work, its, like, sort of hard to tell whats literally real vs. not. Recent must-reads in 1 sentenceThe harder you work at something, the more inspired you become because your subconscious starts working on problems for you.You can replace Notion and most expensive apps with a combo of native apps like Reminders, Notes, and Numbers.TIL: 560 indigenous languages exist in Latin America.Your daily dose of practical wisdomFeeling awful about something doesnt mean youre doing it wrong.Deepen your understanding every day with the Medium Newsletter. Sign up here.Edited and produced by Scott Lamb & Carly GillisQuestions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us: tips@medium.com Love this email? Read without limits or ads, fund great writers, and join a community that believes in human storytelling with Medium membership.