sciencetech-blog

comments

A major rift has emerged within the English-speaking world, pitting Barack Obama against Kim Kardashian and Eminem against David Beckham.

The division is between 'ummers' and 'errers', and, while you may not be aware of it, your gender and age could have a huge influence on which group you fall into.

Men and older people prefer to use 'er' during gaps in speech, while women and teenagers are more likely to use 'um', according to recent research.

Scroll down for video 

In a two-minute clip of an interview with Barack Obama (left) about ISIS, the president used 'uh' – the US equivalent of 'er' – nine times. But in a five minute interview on the Today Show, Kim Kardashian (right) used 'um' four times, and didn't revert to using 'uh' once

For instance, during a two-minute clip of an interview with Barack Obama about ISIS, the president used 'uh' – the US equivalent of 'er' – nine times. 'Um' was not mentioned once.

But in a five minute interview on the Today Show, Kim Kardashian used 'um' four times, and didn't revert to using 'uh' once.

Research by Josef Fruehwald, a lecturer in sociolinguistics at the University of Edinburgh, has backed up these claims.

He recently studied 25,000 examples of people in Philadelphia using 'um' or 'uh'.

'I was kind of surprised because I found both that there was differences between men and women, and that it seemed to be changing over generations,' Mr Fruehwald told MailOnline.

Footballer David Beckham (pictured) is classed as a 'betweener'. He used the word 'um' during 67 per cent of a recent interview. Research has discovered that, overall, women tended to say 'um' 22 per cent more than men, but men used 'uh' more than twice as often as women

Some people, fall into the 'betweener' category. Speaking with Zane Lowe last year, a random two minute-segment of his interview showed Eminem (left) using 'uh' and 'um' four times each. In a recent two-minute interview, singer Jessie J (right), used 'um' five times and 'er' only once.

Professor Fruehwald found that men prefer to say 'uh' more often than women, and people born more recently prefer 'um' more than the older generation.

He added that the data showed women's preference for 'um' instead of 'uh' was much more significant, and ranged somewhere between 400 per cent and 120 per cent stronger than men's.

'It's not surprising that women are leading the change because for most language trends, women are about a generation and a generation and a half ahead of men.'

'I don't know why that is,' he said. 'we don't have a good answer for to that.'

In a separate study, Mark Liberman, at the University of Pennsylvania, found the use of 'um and 'uh' can reveal the speaker's gender, language skills and life experience. 

In a separate study, Mark Liberman, at the University of Pennsylvania, (graphic pictured) found the use of 'um and 'uh' can give reveal the speaker's gender, language skills and life experience

Number of times Obama said "UH" in the 2012 Presidential Debate

He transcribed 14,000 phone conversations, totalling more than 26 million words from 12,000 speakers across the US. 

Professor Liberman discovered that men, essentially, speak like old women.

'The rate of "um" usage for the younger men is almost the same as the rate of "um" usage for the older women,' he said.

Overall, women tended to say 'um' 22 per cent more than men, but men used 'uh' more than twice as often as women.

And when men and women speak to each other, they try to find a middle ground, using a more equal mix of 'uh' and 'um',

In his earlier research, Professor Liberman also found that use of 'uh' increased with age for both men women.

'Males use uh about 14 per cent less often when talking with a female rather than a male, and females use uh about 20 per cent more often when talking with a male rather than a female,' Professor Liberman writes.

Captain of the Liverpool team, Steven Gerrard (in yellow), used nine 'ums' and one 'er' in two and a half minutes during a post-match interview

MailOnline discovered that during a recent two-minute interview, singer Jessie J, used 'um' five times and 'er' only once.

Cheryl Cole bucked the trend. During a 3 minute-segment of an interview with Pier Morgan, Cole used 'er' three times and 'um' just once.'

Some people, however, fall into the 'betweener' category. Speaking with Zane Lowe last year, Eminem used 'uh' and 'um' four times each in two minutes.

David Beckham is also classed as a 'betweener'. He used the word 'um' during 67 per cent of a recent interview according to The Times.

Oliver Moody in The Times also notes that Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, used 15 'ers' and just two 'ums' on The Andrew Marr show in March this year.

Meanwhile, captain of the Liverpool team, Steven Gerrard, used nine 'ums' and one 'er' in two and a half minutes during a post-match interview.

There are a number of different theories for the 'um' and 'uh' divide. Some scientists believe Hollywood culture has influenced others through film and television.

A two-minute interview with comedienne Miranda Hart showed her use 'um' 75 per cent of the time, and 'er' only once. Cheryl Cole bucked the trend. During a 3 minute-segment of an interview with Pier Morgan, Cole used 'er' three times and 'um' just once

But 'um' and 'er' could also mean different things in our speech, with 'um' suggesting a longer break, and 'er' a shorter pause.

Professor Liberman says people tend to use 'um' when they're trying to decide what to say, and 'uh' when they're trying to decide how to say it.

'As people get older, they have less trouble deciding what to say [because they know more stuff], and more trouble deciding how to say it [because they know more words and fixed phrases, and so have a harder time making a choice],' Professor Liberman told The Atlantic.

However, Professor Fruehwald told MailOnline that no one can conclusively proove why there are differences in using 'um' and 'er' between men and women.

Professor Fruehwald found that men prefer to say 'uh' more often than women, and people born more recently prefer more 'um' than the older generation. Stock image