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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/20646
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/20646
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I don't think soften is quite the right word for what these kinds of words do, nor is filler. I think of them as signal words. They indicate to the reader what direction the text is about to take. They are like the curve signs on the highway. The signs don't make the road curve. In this sense they don't add anything. But they alert the driver/reader that a curve is coming, which helps them avoid ending up in the ditch.

The most common example of a signal word that I can think of is "but". But and and actually mean exactly the same thing:

    Tom went to school but Jane went home.

Means exactly the same thing as:

    Tom went to school and Jane went home.

In terms of the information conveyed, these two sentences are identical. The use of but as the conjunction simply signals that there is going to be some significant difference between the phrases it joins. It does not create the difference and is not necessary for the reader to understand the difference, it simply prepares the reader for the possibility of the difference. Such words are part of the ergonomics rather than the semantics of language.

Original score: 8