THE VOCABULARIES OF ACADEMIA

It has been demonstrated that humanists are far more likely to use fil led pauses (''uh,'' ''ah,'' or ''um'') during their lectures than are social or natural scientists. This finding has been interpreted in ter ms of the hypothesis that filled pauses indicate time out while the sp eaker searches for the next word or phrase. Based on the assumption th at the more options at a choice point, the more likely a speaker will say ''uh,'' it is hypothesized that the humanities are characterized b y richer vocabularies (i.e., more synonyms) than are the sciences. Art analysis of the number of different words used in lectures and in pro fessional publications indicates that this is indeed the case. Scienti sts consistently use fewer different words than do humanists. Further, the number of different words correlates positively with the frequenc y of saying ''uh'' during lectures. These findings are not restricted to academics, for in newspaper accounts, journalists use fewer differe nt words in stories about science than in stories about the arts.