We always hear about colloquialisms that enter everyday conversations. Back in the 80’s, it was “valley girl speak” of “like… you know” and “Oh… my gawd!” We then heard the over-use of “essentially.”
That has now evolved into my new pet peeve: “Basically.”
That is the new overused word in the American conversation. While the speaker may intend to use it as a simplification of a point, it is often used as a “filler” to make the speaker seem smarter than they actually are. More often than not, it makes the listener feel more inadequate, or it makes the speaker appear arrogant about their own intelligence.
So, I beg of each and every one of you: do not use “basically” when you are trying to describe something. Use “I believe” instead, because that’s what you are… basically… expressing.
GAH!