Um, next week let's hit the strip clubs

Reports on the effect of drinking alcohol on people's tendency to utter the word 'um.' Study by University of California psychologist Nicholas Christenfeld; Carelessness of intoxicated people about what they are saying.

By Peter Doskoch, published on September 01, 1996

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WHO SAYS BEHAVIORAL science isn't fun? University of California psychologist Nicholas Christenfeld, Ph.D., recently ventured out to a San Diego bar to investigate a pressing intellectual issue: how booze affects our tendency to say "um." Yep, that awkward nonsense syllable that trips from our lips as we try to figure out what to say next has actually warranted more than a dozen studies.

Though the findings may plug a small hole in the psychology literature, they won't surprise your neighborhood bartender. While intoxication makes maneuvering one's lips more difficult--hence the slurred words--it also makes people care less about what they're saying. So alcohol drowns not only sorrows but those anxious urns as well. As Christenfeld puts it: "Alcohol makes everything a casual chat."

ILLUSTRATION

Edited by Peter Doskoch