I wish I did say `erm` more often,. It might give me time to prevent the inevitable twatish remark!
Venusxxx
Canadians say 'eh' after every sentence
Bermudians say ' Um Um' as their break
Paul
i say "right?" after every sentece nearly.. right
Er well i do it quite a lot ive noticed!
I do telesales and if im not really concentrating on what im saying i er find that erm say it quite a lot.
(note to self,pay more erm attention!)
i say it a lot i think when i need thinking time
i dont worry when i hear other people saying it
as long as i understand them its fine
Thanks Calista babes its not just me then! lol :rose:
Lots of people say 'you know what i mean' to give them selves thinking time - David Beckham is a prime example!
Sorry to get all anthropological before dark, but there is, ahem, a direct analogy with apes in these forms of stuttering (yes, stuttering) and throat clearing etc. They are appeals for acceptance, the verbal equivalent of nodding your head when you're talking to someone, inviting them to agree with you. It sounds horrible, but it's involuntary, instinctive, and a very difficult habit to break. Throat-clearing at the beginning of a speech is an expression of non-aggression which, if you were a gorilla, your life would absolutely depend on. The rhetorical question at the end is a similar thing, seeking confirmation of your rapport. Some people are so completely unable to get around this instinctive behaviour, they even conclude a simple parting greeting with a question, such as "Bye now, take care, yeah?" rather than run the risk of making it sound like a command.
Interestingly (yeah, right, like this is interesting), Australians have developed a short-cut: Instead of asking a stupid question at the end of a speech, they phrase it as a question even if it isn't, by using a rising inflexion at the end of the sentence, as in "Hi, I'm just off down the beach?"
Know what I mean?
Ice, yeah?
Now who was it who had a theory about all this thinking time?........you know the bloke...
whatsisname....eerr...thingymebob.......eermm.... whodyumaflip....eerr....whatisface...eerrmm.....you know ...that dooda bloke, FFS!
Anyway I've got to admit that I am now concious of it and have been surprised at how many eerr's I have used this afternoon.
Yes, musketeer, "basically" is one of my pet hates as well. Most people who use it just use it over and over again, simply as a pause while they are thinking what to say next...rather like "erm" in fact. They think it makes them sound clever though. Another expression used in the same way is "at the end of the day" - I hope that's going to die out soon.
Mike.
It used to be my favorite trick, in a factory I worked in, to introduce a 'word' to conversations over and over again. You can actually get people to repeat it without them realising, it is so funny.
Words like beginning the sentance with 'actually', or 'basically', but to keep saying it constantly, and lots of folk will take it on...! Go on, be a devil, cos you know ya wanna!
uh huh
