W e’re losing words . More than 300 a day in spoken word, or 120,000 a year, according to recent research. Tech is the main reason — we’re texting over phone calls , using the self-check out lane, and ordering sugar off Instacart rather than asking a neighbor for a cup. In an effort to understand the implications of this decades-long loss of words, I decided to stop talking for a day. I am a yapper. Women speak an average of 10,000+ daily words , but between my chats with neighbors, check in with friends, and daily calls with my mother, I suspect my average is even higher. Sudden silence was going to be a struggle. Would friends and strangers think I was rude? Would they not talk to me again? Unlike a monastic vow of silence, I was able to text, email, Slack, use apps and social media messaging. And it was still a lot tougher than I thought it would be. Julia Musto, The Independent’s U.S. Science and Climate Correspondent, sits on a green couch.…