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My ninth-grade history teacher said ultimately so much that a classmate and I started keeping tally each day. He once said ultimately 26 times in a 48-minute period.

A co-worker's response to most things is the word interesting—seemingly as an acknowledgement. Often a response to any casual comment I make, or most work-related documents she reads aloud.

How is it that some people settle into using certain words so atypically frequently? It surprises me that they don't notice.

I don't mean this to be emotionally charged or meant to be subjective. I noticed it so I asked about it, and have simplified the question to reflect this.

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    Quityerbellyachinn!! I've had coworkers whose every 3rd word was "fuck". (I'm betting you have some annoying habits too.)
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 21:24
  • youtube.com/watch?v=5Qf6Sv3A9zs
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 21:26
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    This is a subjective question along the lines of "_____ sucks, am I right?" Please see the FAQ especially the section about what not to ask.
    – MetaEd
    Commented Dec 11, 2015 at 0:05
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    It should be noted that many people adopt a habit of using a particular word (or a selection from a small set of words) as their "uh" sound -- the sound they make when considering what to say next. "Ultimately" (used as in interjection of sorts) is an obvious choice here. The word "interesting" likewise might be the speaker's equivalent of "yes, I hear you", and serves a useful purpose of communicating that the prior utterance has been heard and is being considered.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Dec 11, 2015 at 0:33
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    And I have a doctor who attaches "as far as that goes" to most sentences, as far as that goes.
    – MetaEd
    Commented Dec 11, 2015 at 0:40

2 Answers 2

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It sounds like the word is being used as a bit of a filler word:

In linguistics, a filler is a sound or word that is spoken in conversation by one participant to signal to others that he/she has paused to think but has not yet finished speaking. ... Among youths, the fillers "like", "y'know", "I mean", "so", "actually", "basically", and "right" are among the more prevalent. Ronald Reagan was famous for beginning his answers to questions with "Well..."[citation needed], as President Barack Obama often begins statements with "Look...".[citation needed] Fillers fall into the category of formulaic language.

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Limited vocabulary and little guidance from peers, I suspect.

Technically, it is an interesting phenomenon, but ultimately impermanent.

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    classic response
    – Trevor Brown
    Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 21:37
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    I'm pretty sure this phenomenon has nothing to do with limited vocabulary. Most of the people I've encountered who have this are very well educated and have quite a large vocabulary. Do you have anything to back up your claims?
    – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
    Commented Dec 16, 2015 at 19:03
  • No, do you have any evidence for most people you've encountered being very well educated and having a large vocabulary? My suspicions were founded on as much evidence as you provided for your "pretty sure" ness.
    – BleepBloopOverflow
    Commented Dec 17, 2015 at 1:58

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