Sort of, redux

I might have enjoyed this interview on the radio tonight, but I ended up screaming (literally) instead. 36 instances of "sort of" (thanks for an honest transcript, Fresh Air) in less than 24 minutes. And Terry Gross talks nearly half that time, so he was averaging roughly 3 "sort of"s per minute.

Please, if you're going on national TV or radio, please learn to swallow the "sort of".

Sort of inextricably intertwined

I was horrified this morning on WFYI to hear a local piece on an arts luncheon, with someone asserting that the lunch would bring together people who are, in his words, "sort of inextricably intertwined."

Contemplate that phrase for a while. Wrap your brain around it, I dare you.

Sort of inextricably intertwined

I often hear athletes use waffle words; after thoroughly destroying another team: "we sorta came out in the second half and established ourselves," for example. Why the "sorta"?

This, though...this is a semantic nightmare.

Sort of inextricably intertwined

Thus the pernicious effect of "kinda/kind of" or "sorta/sort of" as space fillers as we search for the right words. Don't let this disease infect your speech. Better to use "um" and sound inept than use "sort of" and risk sounding like an idiot.

On the other hand, perhaps this is the way to achieve immortality: many of us will remember his words far longer than had he not used "sort of".