If you read any Web-based discussion forums, you'll see this a lot. It's a simulation of slow, laborious talking, to wit: "time that you can never. Get. Back." Or, "I was eating some of their chocolate cake (so! good!)." The first few times, that was novel. The 4,054th time, you should get a spanking. And not the playful, birthday-type of spanking.
2. "Well." This is a mildly sarcastic interjection that has gotten way, way out of hand on the Web. Here's one common usage: "The trouble with terrorists is, well, they terrorize people." It used to be a way of calling attention to the meaning of a word or a phrase by pointing to its derivation. Great. But it's become a way of avoiding a real explanation, such as "The problem with terrorists is that they're effective in doing what they do."
3. "Uh" and "um." Verbal pauses, exported to written language. Not bad in themselves, but again, they're overused. "Uh, Bert, we knew that already." "If you want my opinion, I say...um, no." Grrr.
I know others out there feel the same way I do. Please contribute your. own. pet. peeves.
