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'Um' ... A Pause for Linguistic Appreciation

Fresh Air | By Geoff Nunberg
Published April 14, 2008 at 12:33 PM EDT

It's one of the most common words in English, and one of the most maligned. But it has been doing useful work for centuries, and lately it's acquired a new, hip meaning. Fresh Air linguist Geoff Nunberg gives us his thoughts on the little word, "um."

Copyright 2008 Fresh Air
Geoff Nunberg
Geoff Nunberg is the linguist contributor on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross.