Words People Use

According to a Time magazine article I read long ago, women use roughly 4,000++ words a day in conversion while men use 1,000++. I dunno if this statistic still holds true and if someone is keeping count. But...

I wonder if they also counted pet words in that study. Most people i know have "pet words". Words they use over and over in conversation, words they have used and misused to mean different things than the original definition.

A good friend begins his sentences with "actually". Another one says "I'm sorry" whether or not she's apologizing. A collegue likes to throw "standard" in most exchanges. My boss uses the word "premise" every other sentence.

What is the dynamic of choosing a pet word? Maybe one day, out of the thousands or so words they use, they suddenly realize, "That one sounded good to my ear, rolled right out my tongue, made me and the other person I'm talking to appear smart (me for knowing the meaning of the word and having the good sense to use it in a sentence and my listener for knowing the meaning of the word and being able to give an appropriate response), and most importantly, I accomplished what I set out to do. I should use it again!"

And they do...over and over...ad naseum.

If I complain about this to my boyfriend, he'll say I'm being too picky about small things that I should just shrug off. Ha! He's the one to talk. His pet word is "relax".