An annoying habit!

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I was just listening to a radio programme, on the topic of the fate of cities dealing with industrial decline. The presenter was in discussion with a couple of authors who had written books on the subject. The first had described the rise and fall of the city of Liverpool, once the second largest city in Britain and the most important port in the world. The history was very interesting but the speaker was rather distracting because he said ‘Er’ .. ‘Um’… so many times during his discourse. At first it didn’t seem so bad as he just got into his stride but then when it went on and on and he didn’t stop doing it, it got rather irritating. Little One remarked on it as well so then I was curious and had to go back to listen to him again. In the course of 10 minutes (during which the presenter/ interviewer naturally spoke some of the time) the author said ‘Er’ or ‘Um’ (sometimes immediately one after the other) at least 100 times. I tallied 101 but undoubtedly missed a few when they came so fast I couldn’t keep up! I wonder if the poor chap listened to the programme afterwards? If so I hope he took it as an incentive to work on his presentation skills The picture shows the radio I remember my mother listening to when I was a child. All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2025.