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Wednesday, October 8, 2008

The “You know” Report: Second U.S. Presidential Debate

You know, my friends, it's a tedious job, but somebody has to do it. Last night John McCain and Barack Obama met in Nashville, Tennessee for their second “debate”, this time in “town hall” format. (Funny, I don't recall town hall meetings having a superstar news reader as “moderator”.) Anyway, as usual, Fourmilab was on the beat, ready to scan the CNN transcript of the debate for the verbal crutch of our era, “you know”. This time, because of the Republican candidate's fondness for “my friends”, I've added that phrase to the tally.

  McCain     Obama  
 “You know”s  22 15
 “My friends”s  22 0

This was a little surprising to me; I thought “you know” was a Boomer thing which then afflicted subsequent generations, but John McCain, born in 1936, not only aces Obama in “my friends”, he whumps him in the “you know” contest as well.

Posted at 20:09 Permalink