I once worked for a nice fellow who used the word “flag” very, very often. He flagged this and that and commented that others had flagged something or other. He used the word to mean many things — I never knew which meaning he was applying in a particular statement. Most people never use the word “flag” as a verb.

Another person I just read about uses the word “iteration” many times a day. I’ll bet  you rarely if ever use the term.

I had a clinical supervisor who never said yes in response to a question. She always said: “Absolutely.” I had a colleague who never said yes — instead, she said, “Yeah, yeah.”

The words that are much more often used by a person than by others are sometimes called signature words or fingerprint words. We could call their high use by a person idiosyncratic.

I tried to think of what my signature words are, but we are often not aware of our own. They go with us like our individual type of laugh. A friend pointed out that I say “Jeepers” frequently. I denied it until I caught myself using this expression of surprise (used also by Jimmy Olsen in Superman) several times the next day. My son, when asked, told me that I use the word (spelled phonetically here) “shishmee” (which is an Arabic word for bathroom, I think) with family members. I then realized that I also use the word “tinkle” to mean urinate.

Why do I use those particular words more than other individuals do? I have no explanation based on reason. If we move to the unconscious realm, I might speculate that to some extent I have a child-like view of life. Also, I find the words “Jeepers” and “tinkle” funny.

I copied use of the word “shishmee” from my father, who may have wanted to use a discrete version of the word when in public with young children. Copying can occur with signature words — if the words are appealing in some way. No one I know has ever copied use of any of my signature words. In current times, those words are clunkers, socially speaking.

So I ask myself, do I want to talk like Jimmy Olsen? Like the parent of a two-year old? Sure, why not? However, I would like to add variety to my word options when surprised — something I can alternate with “Jeepers.” To break my habit, I may have to switch to a word that starts with the same J sound. “Jumping Jehoshaphat”? I might be going in the wrong direction there.

What words do you use more than just about anyone else on the planet? Ask individuals who spend lots of time with you — they know your signature words. What does your use of those particular words say about you?