A question about the use of non-essential words and phrases...
Many English speaking people have a habit of adding a few extra non-essential words to their sentences. I think they are used as a nervous habit or as a way to think about how they want to answer a question. Two examples would be "I mean" and the word "like".
Question: "Where are you going for the holidays?" Answer: "Well, I mean, I would like to go home, but I'm not sure if I can get a flight.
Question: "Where did you go last night? Answer: "We like went to the movies, then to my friend's house.
I was wondering if anyone knew if this phenomenon occurred with Spanish speaking people. It would be nice to know in case we hear extra non-essential words. This could cause some problems when we are trying to translate!! 
Has anyone else noticed this with English speaking people as well?
9 Answers
Got it! Nicole, I googled for you and found the following:
In Spanish those "filler" words are called muletillas (or, less commonly, palabras de relleno) and are very common. But Spanish speakers tend not to use one-syllable utterances as much as in English. Instead, they tend to use common words like este (usually pronounced as esteeeee, depending on how nervous the person is), esto (or estoooo) or in Mexico o sea (which roughly means "I mean"). Che is often heard in Argentina. In other areas you may hear es decir (meaning, roughly, "that is to say"). The "er" has its equivalent in the sound "eeeehh," and em is similar to the English "ummm."
Also, it is very common to use pues, which has a variety of meanings. Pues can be used at the start of a sentence as a kind of filler while you can get your thoughts together. Or try a ver, which is to say, "let's see."
Más jemplos en español
* En Costa Rica:
o mae
o este
o vara
* En Argentina:
o che
o viste
o boludo
o digamos
o culiao
* En Colombia
o pues
o osea
o obvio
o ya que ..
* En Bolivia:
o eshte
o la cosa es que
o elay
o acaso
o noves
o pues
o puej
o vah
o entonces
* En México:
o wey
o mano
o aja
o eh! o eh?
o es que
o este
o no
o pues
o si
o tipo
o verdad
o ni modo mano
* En Perú:
o pe
o humildad
o o sea
o ps
o que no pegue pe
* En Chile:
o cachái
o po
o así
o weón
o que te parió
o pinche
* En España:
o eh...
o joder
o tío
o hombre
o chaval
* En Uruguay:
o bo
o che
o viste
o boludo
* En Venezuela:
o Vale
o chamo
o o sea
o ¿sabes?
You know, Nicole, I think, you know, you have forgotten, you know, the most over-used phrase, you know, in the English Language, but you know, I can't remember, you know, what it is.............
While "like" is the lowest, painful-to-the-ear utterance in English, at least at the moment, this sort of thing occurs in most languages. It's simply a matter of lack of ability to articulate.
Pues..este...este...todas las respuestas me parecen...este...excelentes, pues.. 
These words or phrases are called "fillers" (He's sort of shy and uhm he's got problems er with socialising...) and "false starts" (Well, I've uhm... I saw him last week. I think... I'm not really sure if he called his dad...).
And I know only one such word in Spanish - pues... 
In Spanish these are called "muletillas" and sometimes "palabras de relleno."
Besides "pues," which Issa has already mentioned, there is also "o sea" (similar to "I mean"), "este" and "esto" (which are sometimes drawn out at the end). I'm sure that there are more, but I can't think of any at the moment.
I did a quick search and found this on the net: muletillas
In Spanish these are called "muletillas" and sometimes "palabras de relleno."
I never knew there was a technical term for this. I thought it was just an annoying habit.
I once worked with a man who added the word "everything" to every sentence.
"I'm going to the store and everything". "It is a sunny day and everything".
Well one day he ordered pizza for the whole staff. I'm sure you can guess what happened....We received a pizza with every single topping (everything!) available.
It is a shame, we were all laughing so hard that we couldn't eat.
Anyone notice this one in the list:
En España: o joder
Lol!
If this link works, read this interview about Christmas in Argentina and count how many times the person says "este" as a filler.
Yup, I hear this all the time jaja. They actually did a news special on the phenomenon of ignorance (or atleast it sounds ignorant). I believe the new station was either, NBC or FOX...but don't quote me. 
