This article examines native speakers' perception of the use of discourse markers such as you know, right, well, like, etc. by other speakers. The analysis suggests that discourse markers are evaluated negatively to characterize socially validated members of the in-group by stigmatizing outsiders as discourse marker users, which is only possible if the markers themselves are perceptually salient. Paradoxically, speakers seem completely unaware of the fact that and the extent to which they themselves make use of discourse markers.