If you were hearing this instead of reading it, you might notice a pause here and there tucked between the phrases, filled with a familiar, soft hum or rumble -- an um or uh.

Though a bane to teachers of public speaking, people around the world fill pauses in their own languages as naturally as watermelons have seeds. In Britain they say uh but spell it er, just as they pronounce er in butter.

To read the full article, go here.