eh?

For a while there, maybe 15 years back, everyone was commencing sentences with "yeah-no", a mangling of of "yes I know", I guess. Remember that?

There's a phenomena now, kinda subtle, but once you notice it you can't unnotice it. CBC radio announcers are bad for it. Also a lot of people speaking on-the-record seem to do it. They put these odd emphasis, as if they're in a debate, or insecure in some way. Some examples:

The mayor says he will ensure the project is completed on schedule.

Traffic is backed up, which is normal for this time of day.

Class size liimits are on the agenda.

 

some are still using that around here, never was sure what it meant

many are still starting every sentence with 'like'

 

we have some media people who insist on saying 'he' or 'she' after saying someone's name, before continuing with their report.

 

Did "fishermen" become "fishers" in your area? I guess that's a done deal. Always makes me think of the New Testament "fishers of men", lol.

 

no, haven't heard that one yet, but most things seem to go from west to east, with the weather

 

Personal fascination with filler words (lexical pauses). Readers all know um uh like from English, but every language seems to have them.

In Chinese it is 'niga' and often repeated. Was at an international meeting where a local grad student was explaining a field research project. A bit nervous, he began by repeating this filler, and the only Black fellow there was, like, "What did I do?"

I imagine a rap song made solely from fillers from many languages. This would probably be in poor taste eh?
==
It's actually 那个 (nèige in Pinyin) but I wrote it as it sounds.

 

There are lists of fillers online but this chat:

Do other languages have the equivalent of abusing "like" in every sentence? - Straight Dope Message Board

Adds interest by way of personalities.

 

it's unfortunate that you cannot 'like' any posts on that board

 

American Sign Language has "um" but it's hard to show here. To bring a second level to a rap performance, sign fillers in various languages) instead of stereotypical hand gestures.

Apparently I think too much about this

 

You with a zillion likes might overestimate their true value.

 

i do like them. giving more than getting. and i'm not even on facebook.

i only wish we had them in fhopol

 

Have previously expressed desire for a 'dislike' button as well. But only for that fenced-in area.

==
Other promising rap fillers

mani mani mani
yani yani yani

Revealing I am thinking along phonetic lines. But what is truly revealed is my narrow view that rap does not convey meaning ab initio. So, why not construct it without meaning in the first place?

 

I had a boss years ago who was a great guy and the best boss I ever had. But his filler word was the f-bomb. It was amazing.

 

Perhaps I had the same boss. In upstate New York dialect it was more like foock

 

must have been democrats

 

Canadian spelling of their country:

See, eh? Ehn, eh? Dee, eh?

 

and patriotic song "Oh Canada" becomes "Canada eh"

 

Sounds pretty similar. My boss was from down state. (Is that how they say it?) So he didn't have many "r"s in his lingo.

My mom used to spell "Missouri" "em eye ess ess oo you ar uhh." Missourah!

 

There are no r's in Boston

 

and no i in team

we do have the rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrevs though