To me, it's one of two things:
1. Villian made a big hand is just looking to keep you involved.

2. Villian has a marginal hand and is looking to keep the pot small. I do this with something like A10 and the 10 hits as the high card on an uncoordinated board. To me, this hand is worth playing if I can keep the pot small. I don't want to play for my stack with a pair of 10's, but I want the guy with J10 to keep paying. Sometimes I get outdrawn or surprised by an overpair, but in general it's a nice way to pick up a few bucks.