填實體的空
這一家離字面最近：真的有一個洞，真的有東西被壓進去，表面才平回來。
noun · B2
A thick paste used to fill holes and cracks in wood or walls, so that the surface is smooth before it is painted. The source dictionary marks this use as British English.
補土；填縫劑
核心畫面
You can think of filler as fill plus -er: the thing that does the filling. First there is a gap — a crack in a wall, a hollow under the skin, half a page left over, a silence in the middle of a sentence. Then something goes in and closes it. The supplied etymology cuts the word exactly that way, into fill and -er, and that line is still visible in every use. One more thing worth noticing: what goes in is chosen because it fits the hole, not because it is the best thing available. That is why, when filler is used about songs, pages or episodes, it carries a shrug with it.
filler 可以想成 fill（填）加上 -er（做這件事的東西）：拿來填的那一樣。畫面裡先有一個空——牆上的裂縫…更多收起
filler 可以想成 fill（填）加上 -er（做這件事的東西）：拿來填的那一樣。畫面裡先有一個空——牆上的裂縫、皮膚底下的凹陷、雜誌上剩下的半頁、話講到一半的停頓——然後有東西被塞進去，把空補平。來源資料正是把這個字拆成 fill ＋ -er，這條線索在每個用法裡都還看得見。還有一點值得注意：填進去的東西常常只是「剛好塞得住」，不是最好的那一個。所以 filler 用在歌、版面、集數上時，總是帶著一點不以為然。From the word’s history
The packet's etymology tree for filler ends in English fill + -er, with fill going back through Old English fyllan to a Germanic root meaning full. So the word is built to name whatever makes something full, which is exactly the core image.
來源資料的字源樹把 filler 收在 English fill ＋ -er，而 fill 再往前經過古英語 fyllan，回到日耳曼語表示「滿」的字根。所以這個字從構造上就是在指「讓東西變滿的那一樣」，跟核心畫面完全對得上。
Wiktionary (kaikki) etymology tree for filler, as supplied in the evidence packet: Proto-Germanic *fullaz > Old English fyllan > Middle English fillen > English fill, plus the agent suffix -er.
Three branches
填時間和版面的空
要填的空從牆壁換成版面、時間和篇幅。因為選的標準是「剛好填得滿」而不是「夠好」，這一家開始帶著評價。
noun · B2
Something put in only to fill space or time, not because it is good or needed. It is used about weak songs on an album, parts of a show where nothing happens, and anything added to make something look full.
湊數的東西
填話裡的空
這次的空是聽得見的：句子講到一半停住的那一段沉默。
noun · B2
A sound or short word that someone says while they are still thinking, such as um, uh or you know. It fills the gap so the sentence does not stop dead.
填補詞；口頭禪