In response to the "Change in languages cause 'like' epidemic," Oct. 28, I must say that we are indeed faced with an epidemic -- a stuttering epidemic.

The use of the word "like" is certainly similar to the words "uh" and "um" in that all three are used as fillers. Fillers are interjected randomly during speech and serve no purpose other than being a placeholder. Occasional use is considered normal for a typical, fluently speaking adult. Excessive use of fillers (more than 7 percent) often indicates a fluency disorder, such as stuttering.

Consider the following sentence spoken by a fellow classmate this morning: "I'm like not really sure how to like get my costume together." Looks a little silly on paper, doesn't it? This simple 12-word sentence contains a 16 percent dysfluency rate. It certainly contains enough dysfluencies to be considered stuttering yet the majority of Penn State's student population speaks this way.

As you walk around campus or perhaps when you open your own mouth to speak, listen. Do you stutter?