In terms of triviality this 'issue' is probably right up there… Even so, I am so irked by the problem, and the fact that it has gone on unabated (not even really acknowledged in the mainstream media in any way) for more than a decade now, that I feel it is time for at least an attempt to raise some sort of broad/public recognition of it. Before all Australian kids acquire the misguided belief that a standard part of public speaking of any kind is to randomly insert the words 'you know' into almost every sentence uttered, sometimes two or three times in the same sentence.
The most recent example I encountered was an interview with someone called Matt Okine on ABC News (aired on 02 November 2019). No doubt some peeps with 'smart TVs' and the like would be able to 'watch this back', retrospectively (I have no such capacity). In this interview the guy says 'you know', almost as often as he takes a breath. It also seems that in some instances, where in normal English dialogue the word 'and' would be used, he instead substitutes in the erroneous phrase 'you know'.
Years ago, when this grating habit was first 'creeping in' to public interviews given by somewhat less confident peeps, it was just a nervous habit that emerged two or three times every couple of minutes. Now though, the problem is getting worse and worse. As well as rendering these speakers impossible to take seriously, it will also eventually have the unfortunate side effect of 'teaching' kids that when public speaking, if you want to sound like 'the peeps on TV', it would be a good idea to randomly/pointlessly insert the words 'you know' into your sentences, at the start, middle, or end, or all three places, often. God help us.
Of course there is also the incessant/pointless use of the word '…, like, …', and the phrase 'do you know what I mean?, (etc.), but by far the biggest and most enduring scourge is this grating ridiculously gratuitous insertion of 'you know', many times per minute, by countless unfortunately afflicted individuals in the public eye. The only way to stop this is to raise awareness of the problem. Those afflicted should not be 'shamed', they should simply be made aware that they have this problem. That alone, I am sure, would be quite enough to prompt them to consciously address their 'public speaking deficit'. The problem with that approach though, is that I can't think of any realistic way that it could be done without highlighting numerous specific examples of it … which will inevitably involve identifying individual 'offenders'…
Soooo, my question is this. Would it be 'bad' or 'mean' of me to start a Youtube Channel called 'YouKnow', in which I posted vids ripped from TV interviews etc., and applied a running 'you know' count with a 'bing' sound and a little cumulative count at the bottom of the screen, every time the interviewee said 'you know'? I will 100% act or not, based entirely on the feedback I get from the OzB peeps here. If the majority think that doing such a thing would be 'bad form' (for any reason), then I will not do it. If The majority think that it would be a justified thing to do though—for the public good/in staunch defense against the desecration of English expression—then I will go ahead and do it.
" against the desecration of English expression"
I am dead against the bastardisation of 100% fair dinkum australian english/slang etc and the use of by useless imported words like :issue: you aint got an :issue: sunshine you have a problem…
issue in australian english means the latest copy of new idea etc that mum buys. [although there may be obscure use of the word in a legal sense in a court case or planning for a court case etc]… legalese..
its not an issue that your internet is slow/or the cat shat on the carpet… it is a problem…
fair go ocker