Could "actual" be the 21st Century's "Umm"

As a Toastmaster and professional communicator I listen to the words people use when they speak. Unfortunately, I also hear the words that they may not intend to utter when they get lazy or nervous. It occured to me this week that I actually think "actual" is becoming the actual "crutch" word of choice for the 21st century.

It used to be that when a person spoke and didn't know what they were going to say, they would pause while inserting some sound like "umm" or "ah." If you think about where you may insert an "umm" or "ah" it is actually easy to insert the word "actual" in its place.

So is it better to use "actual" than "umm" or "ah"? Actually, no. In fact, it is actually quite annoying to here an actual person use "actually" perpetually in a sentence. In fact, you're actually better off not using actual crutch words at all.

Here is a list of some actual crutch words to be aware of and actually, "actually" is number 84 on the list, although I expect in real, actual conversation it actually shows up more frequently.