Um, uh, ah: In praise of verbal stumbles. - By Michael Erard - Slate Magazine

Um, uh, ah: In praise of verbal stumbles. - By Michael Erard - Slate Magazine: "A University of Rochester lab published a paper this spring showing that kids over 2 were more likely to pay attention to an unfamiliar object if the speaker said 'uh' before stating its name. Presumably, this tactic gives children a leg up on parsing an adult's speech. Take the example of the mother who says to her child, 'No, that wasn't the telephone, honey. That was the, uh, timer.' The 'uh' indicates that there's a word coming up that might be new and unfamiliar, so extra attention is required."