Phrase Quirk

If you spend a lot of time around people, you start hearing the things they say over and over again. I recently brought this up to my coworker, who adds "You know what I mean?" to her statements FREQUENTLY in conversation. I've begun responding with "Yes, I know what you mean, but..." to accentuate the repetition of the phrase.

An ex used "take and uh" until I beat him with a large stick about the head and neck so he could no longer speak. He would "take and uh" go to the store. "Take and uh" go for a bike ride. YOU'RE JUST GOING TO THE STORE.

There was the coworker who wanted to 'take a half step back' all the time. Why a half step? Why not a FULL step? Why can't we just TAKE A STEP BACK, you freaking dumbass???

Our consultant uses "See, the thing is..." 854 times in each conversation. What is the thing? Is the thing that you can't vary your language usage enough to NOT drive me batshit crazy?

I don't know what my speech quirks are, but I do try to vary things and not say the same thing over and over. Which confuses the crap out of some people because I like to choose decidedly odd ways of saying things. It's like playing with language. WHEEE!