# conversational fillers (like, t'sais, um, f**king)



## Chaska Ñawi

So, like in Canada like we're, like, famous for like using the word "like" in like every sentence, eh?

Yesterday I counted 7 instances of the word "like" in one single sentence of my daugher's.  As a teacher, this drives me nuts.  You don't hear the once everpresent word "eh?" at the end of each sentence much these days, but still plenty of "ums", "ahs" and some "you knows".  In some areas, you also hear "f--king" as the only adjective and adverb present in conversation.

Now I'm curious to hear what "fillers" crop in other languages.  In Quebec, you hear "t'sais?" (you know?) a lot.  In Quechua I remember the word "a" cropping up everywhere.

For some reason I don't really remember many examples in Spanish (except that in my town in Mexico everything was pinche this or pinche that).  So, like, I'd be like interested in hearing what some other languages use as conversational fillers....


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## marinax

uf... that happens a lot in spanish too.

"esteeeemmm..." is usually inserted between sentences. a way of "ums", i would say...
"viste" is also used. as "you know" in english.
"osea" is often heard too. "so I told him that, osea... i told him this" (someone would say)
but the worst happens among teens... god... it drives me crazy, as you say. "tipo que"-"tipico que" ("like"), "boludo"-"tarado" ("f*cking"), and such words fill the teenagers vocabulary. 
nowadays, my nieces say "a re..." every second. it means something like "yeah, right..."
- sos feisima... a rrrrreeee.....
(you are so ugly... yeah, right...)

just a few. i'm sure someone else would complete this...


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## buddingtranslator

Hi Chaska,

Interesting topic! It's true that Americans (I've never met any Canadians unfortunately so I can't say) use "like" a LOT. I used to count how many times the girls on the bus would say it on our way to University in Madrid. A bit malicious of me I know but it really was incredible...

In BE, I'm not really sure but we say "you know" quite a lot and I agree a lot of people, namely my father, used "eh?" as a suffix to practically every sentence or even word which of course drove me crazy.

In French, I would definitely say the word "enfin". I've only recently noticed it, and I don't know if it is a new thing, but they say it all the time. Even though it strictly means "finally", it's not used to mean this at all. In fact it's not the end of what they're saying, sometimes it can even be just the beginning. Also "quand meme", I remember hearing a lot. But "enfin" is a real sentence filler, or sentence "prolonger".

Enfin, in Spanish there are a ton of sentence fillers. To take an example "vaya", I remember hearing this a lot in Madrid. And "hombre", which seems to be used for everyone, even for women, which was a little odd at first saying as we don't use "man" in this way in the UK.

It would be interesting to hear other views.

Best wishes,

BT


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## la reine victoria

Chaska Ñawi said:
			
		

> So, like in Canada like we're, like, famous for like using the word "like" in like every sentence, eh?
> 
> Yesterday I counted 7 instances of the word "like" in one single sentence of my daugher's. As a teacher, this drives me nuts. You don't hear the once everpresent word "eh?" at the end of each sentence much these days, but still plenty of "ums", "ahs" and some "you knows". In some areas, you also hear "f--king" as the only adjective and adverb present in conversation.
> 
> Now I'm curious to hear what "fillers" crop in other languages. In Quebec, you hear "t'sais?" (you know?) a lot. In Quechua I remember the word "a" cropping up everywhere.
> 
> For some reason I don't really remember many examples in Spanish (except that in my town in Mexico everything was pinche this or pinche that). So, like, I'd be like interested in hearing what some other languages use as conversational fillers....


 
This dreadful way of speaking has reached the UK, amongst the young.  It drives me nuts too!  I shan't add to your frustration with examples.  Also commonly used are 'you know' and 'right', and the expletive you mention is heard everywhere, even small children use it having copied parental example.  Also one hears lots of 'ums' and 'ers' or even 'er-um'. 

Another irksome way of speaking is by ending every sentence with the voice asking a question.  So we went out to lunch yester*day*?  I think this originated with certain television programmes but don't know their country of origin.

LRV


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## Roi Marphille

In English I noticed (also): 
- and all
- isn't it?
- _innit_? (BE)
- actually
- right?
- you know whatta mean?
- so..

and yes, Nord-Americans say "like" a lot! this is kind of addicting, _innit_?  

In Castilian (also): 
- ¿sabes?


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## cuchuflete

Puesssss, pues bien. Pues nada. Es que......


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## jinti

Among my students, it's "know what I'm saying?", which is pronounced a lot like "gnome sane?"  

Typical conversation:

_Student_:  I gotta take the um, gnome sane, test, gnome sane, for the um, gnome sane....

_Jinti, desperately fighting off the impulse to congratulate the student on his gnome's good mental health_:  No, what are you saying?


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## Roi Marphille

jinti said:
			
		

> _Student_: I gotta take the um, gnome sane, test, gnome sane, for the um, gnome sane....
> 
> _Jinti, desperately fighting off the impulse to congratulate the student on his gnome's good mental health_: No, what are you saying?


_no clue whatcha sane...  _


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## Like an Angel

marinax said:
			
		

> as you say. "tipo que"-"tipico que" ("like"), "boludo" *or boló, it sounds more cool*"tarado" ("f*cking" not sure if it is that hard),
> nowadays, my nieces say "a re..." every second. it means something like "yeah, right..." I didn't have a clue about this one
> - sos feisima... a rrrrreeee.....
> (you are so ugly... yeah, right...)


 
Everbody says _nada_ everywhere, instead of being silent or giving the proper answer they say _nada_.
A: ¿Cómo estás?
B: _Nada_, todo bien.

C: ¿Qué pensás de los paros/huelgas?
D: _Nada_, pienso que tendrán sus razones, es una forma deeee... _nada_, protestar, pedir por lo que creen justo, _nada_... eso es lo que yo creo, quizás no sea así.

E: ¿Qué hiciste el finde?
F: _Nada_, alquilé unas pelis y salí a bailar con unos amigos. (En que quedamos nada o algo )

Another one very common, for me at least, is no'cierto? (no es cierto?), and it's used like the "eh?" I think.


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## manana

Hola;

En Chile en cada final de frase usamos ¿cachai? (que es algo así como ¿entiendes? o  en  chileno ¿entendís'?). Empezó siendo una expresión exclusiva de la juventud, pero  para ser honesta,  debo decir que hoy en día la usamos todos. Es una expresión muy pegote y a veces me encuentro diciéndola sin querer  .

Otra típica nuestra es "huevón"  o "guón" (por suerte esa no se me ha pegado )

Saludos,


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## fenixpollo

I disagree that "f**ing" is a filler word. I could substitute "you know" or "um" for "like" and it would mean the same thing...

_I was, like, walking down the street, when, like, this guy comes up to me, and he, like, looks at me all funny..._
_I was, um, walking down the street, when, um, this guy comes up to me, and he, um, looks at me all funny...
I was, you know, walking down the street, when, you know, this guy comes up to me, and he, you know, looks at me all funny..._

...but if I put the "f" word in there, the meaning would change:
_I was, f**ing, walking down the street, when, f**ing, this guy comes up to me, and he, f**ing, looks at me all funny..._

This is true for "p**che", also.  I realize that some people use it gratuitously and perhaps many do it unconsciously. However, I think it's used in a way that's meant to punctuate their speech and pepper it with excitement (as they see it) -- not so much as a filler between words.


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## Roi Marphille

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> I disagree that "f**ing" is a filler word. I could substitute "you know" or "um" for "like" and it would mean the same thing...


yes, I think the same. Some people use the F-word a lot but not as a filler, they use it to add more emphasis to the adjectives and names...I think.


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## Like an Angel

Like an Angel said:
			
		

> Another one very common, for me at least, is no'cierto? (no es cierto?), and it's used like the "eh?" I think.


 
And I forgot "entendés?" at the end of a sentece, like "cachai" in Chile as manana said.

And we also use "eeeeeeeh", "buenooo" as "ums"


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## fenixpollo

Where is Benjy with his _eeuummmm_..... ? 


			
				marinax said:
			
		

> "esteeeemmm..." is usually inserted between sentences. a way of "ums", i would say...


  This is "em" following an "este"... right?

*Is it "este" or "es de"?*


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## Chaska Ñawi

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> Puesssss, pues bien. Pues nada. Es que......



HOW could I have forgetten "pues"?  It was the great Bolivian monosyllable while I was there.  

Pues, que barbaro!
Si, pues.
Claro (another big one), pues.

Every few months I assign my students one-minute impromptu speeches.  The object of the exercise is to speak on a topic (drawn from a hat) without once using a filler word.  It really makes them conscious (for a brief while) about their use of fillers.


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## Gremli Skremli

The Spanish _nada_ drives me mad! It's new to me, and it cracks me up when all they talk about is "nothing". Gives a lot of fuel to my Mexican husbands jokes about the Spaniards though... 
In Mexico I remembered that there was a lot of _güey, cuñao, no?, _and _verdad?_  The _o sea_ was considered a bit posh by "my" Mexicans..

In Norwegian there's a lot of _liksom_ (like) and _ikke sant_ (right).


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## Hakro

Chaska Ñawi said:
			
		

> So, like in Canada like we're, like, famous for like using the word "like" in like every sentence, eh?
> 
> Yesterday I counted 7 instances of the word "like" in one single sentence of my daugher's. As a teacher, this drives me nuts. You don't hear the once everpresent word "eh?" at the end of each sentence much these days, but still plenty of "ums", "ahs" and some "you knows". In some areas, you also hear "f--king" as the only adjective and adverb present in conversation.
> 
> Now I'm curious to hear what "fillers" crop in other languages. In Quebec, you hear "t'sais?" (you know?) a lot.


 I believe it's the same problem in every language. "Like" (in Finnish "niinku") is a very typical filler word, even 7 times in one sentence. "You see" is another typical but it seems to have been limited into certain dialects. Instead of the f-word we use the c-word and it can also exist 7 or more times in one sentence.
We also have an Internet service named Korsorator (Korso is a small city famous of bad habits). There you can upload any text and then you get it back filled with c-words, "likes" and other filler words, so the young people can understand what you are saying.


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## nycphotography

In (Brasilian) Portuguese, so far, I've learned to ignore:

né?  = não é = right?
Viu? = Ouviu = (lit) you heard? = you see?  = right?
Pois
é pa = who knows.  dunno?

I think only the last two really count as empty filler words.  Have to see what the native speakers have to offer.


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## Chaska Ñawi

Hakro said:
			
		

> We also have an Internet service named Korsorator (Korso is a small city famous of bad habits). There you can upload any text and then you get it back filled with c-words, "likes" and other filler words, so the young people can understand what you are saying.



Now that is seriously funny.  (Too funny - I just about choked on my coffee.)  If only I spoke Finnish I'd look up the website.  

Makes me want to design an equivalent site in English.


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## nycphotography

Chaska Ñawi said:
			
		

> Now that is seriously funny. (Too funny - I just about choked on my coffee.) If only I spoke Finnish I'd look up the website.
> 
> Makes me want to design an equivalent site in English.


 
There are several, mostly based on ebonics.




> _So, like in Canada like we're, like, famous for like using the word "like" in like every sentence, eh?
> 
> Yesterday I counted 7 instances of the word "like" in one single sentence of my daugher's. As a teacher, this drives me nuts. You don't hear the once everpresent word "eh?" at the end of each sentence much these days, but still plenty of "ums", "ahs" and some "you knows". In some areas, you also hear "f--king" as the only adjective and adverb present in conversation.
> 
> Now I'm curious to hear what "fillers" crop in other languages. In Quebec, you hear "t'sais?" (you know?) a lot. _







> So, like in Canada like We be, like, famous fo' like usin' da werd "like" in like every sentence, eh?
> 
> Yesterday I counted 7 instances o' da werd "like" in one single sentence o' muh ma fuckin daugher 's. As uh teacher, dis here drives me bizzawz. You don' hear da once everpresent werd "eh?" at da end o' each sentence much deez days, but still plenty o' "ums", "ahs" an' some "you knows". In some areas, ya also hear "f--king" as da only adjective an' adverb present in conversation.
> 
> Now I'm curious ta hear what "fillers" crop in other languages. In Quebec, ya hear "t'sais?" (you know?) uh lot. in the hood


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## ~Julie~

In germany we often say "also" or "halt". teachers hate it when we say these words ;-)) 

julie


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## xav

So, a bit of French now.

Common :

Euh...
Ben... _or _Eh ben...
Tu vois ? Vous voyez ?
Tu sais ? Vous savez ?
Comment dire ?
A vrai dire...
Alors... _or _et alors...
..., non ?
..., hein ?

"Djeun" (que ) :

J'veux dire
J'te dis pas
Ziva

Toulousain :

Cong, putaing, putaing cong (not "cong putaing", don't ask me why).


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## Chaska Ñawi

Which reminds me that in Quebec I still hear "ben" a lot, in addition to alors.


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## buddingtranslator

"To be fair"
"To be honest"

Ok, so these aren't so much sentence fillers, but it seems like every other sentence starts with these phrases amongst my friends. And, to be honest, I'm not innocent of it either...

To Xav, or anyone else, what do "Djeun" and "Ziva" in French? I'd be interested to know.

BT


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## xav

Djeun is the new word for "jeune" (plutôt de banlieue que du XVIè arrondissement)

About "ziva", since my interpretation of the word was bad (it's _verlan_ for "Vas-y", but the meaning has changed), I allow myself to quote here my WR friend Geve :



> I had thought of "zyva" too (I prefer to write it with a y - not that I write it a lot really) : a nice expression to know, but not quite the same register (there might be a rule of being less than 20 y.o. and dressed a certain way, to be allowed to say this seriously  )
> 
> Also, "zyva" is no longer exclusively another way of saying "vas-y", it's also a more general interjection for "hey", as in "zyva, pourquoi y'm'téma comme asse, ce bouffon d'sa race ?" _(hey, why is he staring at me like this, this f**ing clown ?)_
> but I am no _verlan/argot_ expert


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## marinax

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> This is "em" following an "este"... right?
> 
> *Is it "este" or "es de"?*


 

actually, it means nothing. is just that: a filler.


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## buddingtranslator

Ah yes, the infamous _verlan_. This is a subject that could well have an entire thread dedicated to it. 

_Verlan_ is basically where syllables in certain French words are reversed. I forget the rule right now, a friend of mine once explained it to me. A classic example is "_garetteci_", which the French actually say instead of "cigarette". It's true that this manner of speaking is mainly used by young people. But I find it fascinating and have come across no equivalent in my studies of language. 

Thank you Xav for clarifying that for me and bringing this subject back to my mind. Perhaps a new thread should be started on the subject because it is fascinating...


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## BasedowLives

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> I disagree that "f**ing" is a filler word. I could substitute "you know" or "um" for "like" and it would mean the same thing...
> 
> _I was, like, walking down the street, when, like, this guy comes up to me, and he, like, looks at me all funny..._
> _I was, um, walking down the street, when, um, this guy comes up to me, and he, um, looks at me all funny...
> I was, you know, walking down the street, when, you know, this guy comes up to me, and he, you know, looks at me all funny..._
> 
> ...but if I put the "f" word in there, the meaning would change:
> _I was, f**ing, walking down the street, when, f**ing, this guy comes up to me, and he, f**ing, looks at me all funny..._
> 
> This is true for "p**che", also. I realize that some people use it gratuitously and perhaps many do it unconsciously. However, I think it's used in a way that's meant to punctuate their speech and pepper it with excitement (as they see it) -- not so much as a filler between words.



i don't know.  i'm certainly not the most eloquent speaker when i'm around my friends.  this is how a convo could go.

me:  oh man, i was at this store and i was fuckin, uhh trying to check out so i could get out.
friend:  wow what a pointless story.


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## Chaska Ñawi

I had no idea about verlan.

In Buenos Aires they use vesre - reves.  This can drive a non-native speaker (and I suspect a native speaker unfamiliar with Portenos) crazy trying to keep up.  One example would be jermu for mujer.

And don't forget Cockney rhyming slang, which is amazingly inventive and complex.  I think you do need to start a new thread here.


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## buddingtranslator

Hi Chaska,

I didn't know v_erlan_ appeared in Spanish too, perhaps it has a different name in Spanish. But you're right, I've been frantically trying to think of the words that are reversed, and "mmef" or "femme" was one of them. Names can't be reversed...

You're absolutely Isle of Wight (right) on the Cockney rhyming slang, new threads will be appearing soon.

BT


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## marinax

Chaska Ñawi said:
			
		

> In Buenos Aires they use vesre - reves. This can drive a non-native speaker (and I suspect a native speaker unfamiliar with Portenos) crazy trying to keep up. One example would be jermu for mujer.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> just for a few words... i think lunfardo would be worse
Click to expand...


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## Brioche

la reine victoria said:
			
		

> Another irksome way of speaking is by ending every sentence with the voice asking a question. So we went out to lunch yester*day*? I think this originated with certain television programmes but don't know their country of origin.
> 
> LRV


 
I've been told that the *rising terminal* is the fault of Australians.

It seems to be most common among young women in the lower socio-economic groups.


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## la reine victoria

Thanks for that Brioche. I had my suspicions. In the UK the group you mention has a twice daily dose of 'Neighbours' on television.

Heaven be thanked that I was born Royal! *:>) :>)*

*Victoria Regina*


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## fenixpollo

Brioche said:
			
		

> I've been told that the *rising terminal* is the fault of Australians.


 This phenomena is also common in the Southern U.S.


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## cuchuflete

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> This phenomena is also common in the Southern U.S.


 And also in California...and it has crept into the Boston area in the dark of night.


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## Fuzzyblob

buddingtranslator said:
			
		

> Hi Chaska,
> 
> Interesting topic! It's true that Americans (I've never met any Canadians unfortunately so I can't say) use "like" a LOT. I used to count how many times the girls on the bus would say it on our way to University in Madrid. A bit malicious of me I know but it really was incredible...
> 
> In BE, I'm not really sure but we say "you know" quite a lot and I agree a lot of people, namely my father, used "eh?" as a suffix to practically every sentence or even word which of course drove me crazy.
> 
> In French, I would definitely say the word "enfin". I've only recently noticed it, and I don't know if it is a new thing, but they say it all the time. Even though it strictly means "finally", it's not used to mean this at all. In fact it's not the end of what they're saying, sometimes it can even be just the beginning. Also "quand meme", I remember hearing a lot. But "enfin" is a real sentence filler, or sentence "prolonger".
> 
> Enfin, in Spanish there are a ton of sentence fillers. To take an example "vaya", I remember hearing this a lot in Madrid. And "hombre", which seems to be used for everyone, even for women, which was a little odd at first saying as we don't use "man" in this way in the UK.
> 
> It would be interesting to hear other views.
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> BT


I don't know about the UK, but in the US we say 'man' a lot (at least some people do). 

'Hey man, how's it going?'
'Man it's hot in here.'

With the first sentence that I used, most people would probably say something slightly different and gender nuetral if they're talking to a girl, but the second sentence is talking to no one in particular, kinda like talking to God or something, so no one changes that one.


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## ampurdan

"Mujer" - ¿Pero qué haces, mujer!

If you are talking to a woman, it would be very odd addressing her as a "hombre" in sentences like the one I've put as an example.


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## throughout

In spanish is common "no", " osea", "bueno", "nada".


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## ampurdan

Et en français: "quoi":

"T'as vu la femme quoi". "Voilà quoi".

Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire exactement?


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## Agnès E.

ampurdan said:
			
		

> Et en français: "quoi":
> 
> "T'as vu la femme quoi". "Voilà quoi".
> 
> Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire exactement?


Justement : rien du tout, c'est vrai, quoi !


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## ampurdan

Merci, Agnès. Mais, quand est-ce qu'on l'utilise? C'est bizarre pour moi que l'un de ces mots soit utilisé au bout de la phrase, étant donné que en espagnol, on les utilise pour gagner du temps et nous permetre cherchez les paroles qui expiment ce que l'on est en train de songer.


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## Agnès E.

Je pense que c'est souvent utilisé pour renforcer ce que l'on vient de dire : _C'est vrai, quoi, il m'énerve, ce jeu vidéo ! j'y arrive pas, c'est crispant à la fin, quoi !_ C'est également un tic très chic-parisien (les snobs parisiens prononcent plutôt koââ) : _Tu connais les plaines de Mongolie ? J'y ai fait du trekking ethno-culturel ! Mââgnifique, quoââ !_


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## ampurdan

Ça tient, Agnès. Merci, mais j'aimerais que vous me disiez encore une autre chose, à quel son vous vous réferez en parlant de "ââ"?


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## Agnès E.

C'est un a très fermé et très long. On le prononce sans ouvrir la bouche en grand.


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## ampurdan

Humm... Je crois savoir... "Mââgnifique", prôche au "en/an", n'est-ce pas?


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## Agnès E.

Un peu, oui. Je suis nulle en phonétique, malheureusement... 
Si vous connaissez le film "le Père Noël est une ordure", le héros à lunettes dit sans arrêt : _c'est celâââ, oui_... 
J'ai trouvé le son !!!


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## anangelaway

Agnès E. said:
			
		

> Un peu, oui. Je suis nulle en phonétique, malheureusement...
> Si vous connaissez le film "le Père Noël est une ordure", le héros à lunettes dit sans arrêt : _c'est celâââ, oui_...
> J'ai trouvé le son !!!


 
Merci Agnès! Ce cite est top, je me marre bien! Je le conserve. Cela me rappelle de si bons souvenirs!!!


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## xav

ampurdan said:
			
		

> Merci, Agnès. Mais, quand est-ce qu'on l'utilise? C'est bizarre pour moi que l'un de ces mots soit utilisé au bout de la phrase, étant donné qu'en espagnol, on les utilise pour gagner du temps et se permettre de chercher les paroles qui expriment ce que l'on est en train de songer.


Très bonne question. Les fillers de fin de phrase servent à mon avis à se donner du temps pour préparer la phrase suivante, tout en empêchant l'autre de prendre la parole. Et lorsqu' il n'y a pas de phrase suivante, ils servent simplement à "occuper le terrain"...


Je suggérerais bien la création d'un glossaire multilingue des "fillers". Ce serait extrêmement utile, un vrai complément au dictionnaire.


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## Chaska Ñawi

xav said:
			
		

> Je suggérerais bien la création d'un glossaire multilingue des "fillers". Ce serait extrêmement utile, un vrai complément au dictionnaire.



Ben  , Ca serait fantastique!  Et merci, Anges, pour les examples.  Nous faisons la meme chose ici avec "Well", mais c'est quelquechose des villages, pas des villes.

_Wellllllll, you could do that._  Xlation:  Es-tu completement fou?

_Welllllll, you might give Ronnie Prue a call for that._  Xlation:  Je n'ai aucune idee s'il fait cette-chose la (J'ai oublie "la" - autre "filler" Quebecois - je retourne a ca), mais tu pourrais demander".

_Welllll, I don't know when I can make it over. _ Xlation:  C'est la saison de chasser les cerveaux, et je vais etre completement bu dans le chalet.

Examples de la:  _Mets-le la_.  Ou mieux, _Mets-le la, la_.

Il y a aussi "pis".  Pis, je suis alle a la grange, pis j'ai trouve une moufette la, la, pis j'ai grite.....

J'adore le joual!


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## nitad54448

xav said:
			
		

> So, a bit of French now.
> 
> Common :
> .


_ Bon bah, ehh, je sais pas,..._
il y a souvent un *"quoi"* rajoute a la fin de la phrase...


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## zebedee

Another common one in Spain is adding "*tío*" - if you're speaking to a guy - or "*tía*" - if you're speaking to a girl - to the start or finish of every sentence.
_-¿Qué pasa, tío? _
_-¡Tía, no te lo vas a creer! Es muy fuerte, tía, de verdad._
_etc._

When I first moved to Spain with just a handful of rudimentary Spanish vocabulary in my grasp, I used to keep myself occupied by counting in my head the number of times I heard "*tío*" or "*tía*" in the rapid flow of unintelligible conversation around me.


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## ampurdan

Well, zebedee, it depends on whose company you are. The older they are, the less they use "tío"/"tía".


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## zebedee

ampurdan said:
			
		

> Well, zebedee, it depends on whose company you are. The older they are, the less they use "tío"/"tía".


 
That's true. I think in all languages these conversational fillers (or "_conversational killers_"  ) are mainly used by adolescents who strive to adopt the same language code as their peers so as to fit in. Luckily we grow out of the fear of being laughed at for completing a coherent sentence using polysyllabic words. So "_I was, like, Wow_!" turns into "_I was pleasantly surprised_." etc.


----------



## ampurdan

zebedee said:
			
		

> That's true. I think in all languages these conversational fillers (or "_conversational killers_"  ) are mainly used by adolescents who strive to adopt the same language code as their peers so as to fit in. Luckily we grow out of the fear of being laughed at for completing a coherent sentence using polysyllabic words. So "_I was, like, Wow_!" turns into "_I was pleasantly surprised_." etc.


 
Well, that's true for some of them, but I'm afraid that "esto/este", "ehmmm", "quoi" and a bulk of such like spread over our speeches throughout our lifetime...


----------



## geve

Or maybe adults use different conversationnal fillers, that are maybe more meaningful that the regular "t'sais" or "quoi"...
There are some business meetings, with very serious adults, where I sometimes want to count certain words, like Zebedee does with tio/tia. For instance some sentence starters like "enfin" (sometimes shorten to 'fin) or "oui mais", which are basically a "polite" way of saying "I think what you've just said is crap, and I will prove it".

But does it still enter in the "conversationnal fillers" category ? Maybe it's more a "tic de langage" (don't know how to translate that !)


----------



## ampurdan

geve said:
			
		

> Or maybe adults use different conversationnal fillers, that are maybe more meaningful that the regular "t'sais" or "quoi"...
> There are some business meetings, with very serious adults, where I sometimes want to count certain words, like Zebedee does with tio/tia. For instance some sentence starters like "enfin" (sometimes shorten to 'fin) or "oui mais", which are basically a "polite" way of saying "I think what you've just said is crap, and I will prove it".
> 
> But does it still enter in the "conversationnal fillers" category ? Maybe it's more a "tic de langage" (don't know how to translate that !)


 
Oh. I know what you mean, believe me. I've been in some meetings loathing all the "conversationa fillers" uttered by the turn speaker. Simple words as "esto" or in catalan "daixonses", "dallonses" (this thing, that thing), "but..." and the like can make a speech very difficult to understand if you don't know beforehand exactly to what they refer. I think that language tics have much to do with conversational fillers...


----------



## geve

ampurdan said:
			
		

> I think that language tics have much to do with conversational fillers...


Probably, in the sense that they punctuate a speech or give time to prepare the next sentence...and are uttered without the speaker really noticing.
My sister used to say "à la limite" _(at the limit?)_ all the time, and I have a friend who says "entre guillemets" _(quotation marks)_ in every sentence ; those would qualify as language tics I guess. But at least it kept them from saying "quoi"


----------



## xav

zebedee said:
			
		

> Luckily we grow out of the fear of being laughed at for completing a coherent sentence using polysyllabic words.


   Wow, Zebedee !


----------



## xav

"Attention seekers", yes, very well !


----------



## Putrid Toaster

In New Zealand, one of the most commonly used is "eh" (like a very heavily dipthonguised 'A'). It doesn't have to be part of a question and it doesn't always require a response: "I'm just really tired at the moment, eh?"

'Like' is used a lot, not only as a conversation filler but as a synonym of to say/to think: "I was like, 'what are you doing?'" "Man, when he sees this, he'll be like, 'what the hell...'".

"And stuff", "and shit" are used a lot, with "shit" being able to be a synonym for all sorts of things: "Have you found your shit (stuff) yet?" "I've gotta go and buy some shit for dinner". "Good shit (= well done)". "She's really nice and shit". 

"Fucking" is used a lot as a filler as well: "He was just like, fucking, all over her and shit".

Like someone else mentioned, statements are sometimes given the intonation of a question: "We were having a dinner and shit ? and then someone found, like, a beetle in their food? and everyone went like totally crazy."

Swearing is a lot more acceptable here; it might even be used between a worker in a shop and a customer who started up conversation with them.

All of these characteristics are scorned by the upper classes, who try to put on something resembling a British accent (lots of colonial prejudice still remains).

As for me, the main thing I can think of at the moment is starting my sentences with, "I mean, ...."


----------



## geve

I've been thinking about this topic lately... Appart from conversational fillers used by "common people" _(and let me add that the list I gave in post #59 was NOT exhaustive)_, there are the ones that are specifically designed for politics.
It is something I notice every morning when listening to the news on the radio : when being interviewed or participating in a debate, almost all French politics start each of their sentences with the word "*écoutez*" (which would be the equivalent of "look" I think). It is very annoying, and I've always wondered why their communication consultants don't tell them to stop... or maybe they recommend to use it ?
It is used as a way to react to an annoying question or point raised by a nosy interviewer or an opponent, and means "now be reasonable, what you said doesn't make sense really".
Are there any conversational fillers of this kind in other languages ?


----------



## ampurdan

geve said:
			
		

> I've been thinking about this topic lately... Appart from conversational fillers used by "common people" _(and let me add that the list I gave in post #59 was NOT exhaustive)_, there are the ones that are specifically designed for politics.
> It is something I notice every morning when listening to the news on the radio : when being interviewed or participating in a debate, almost all French politics start each of their sentences with the word "*écoutez*" (which would be the equivalent of "look" I think). It is very annoying, and I've always wondered why their communication consultants don't tell them to stop... or maybe they recommend to use it ?
> It is used as a way to react to an annoying question or point raised by a nosy interviewer or an opponent, and means "now be reasonable, what you said doesn't make sense really".
> Are there any conversational fillers of this kind in other languages ?


 
You've made me remind one that some Spanish politicians use in a very similar way: "Mire usted".


----------



## Outsider

Alors



			
				ampurdan said:
			
		

> You've made me remind one that some Spanish politicians use in a very similar way: "Mire usted".


And the Portuguese say "Repare..."


----------



## geve

I guess politicians from all contries have their own languages tics...  


			
				Outsider said:
			
		

> And the Portuguese say "Repare..."


I understand the Spanish "Mire usted" (look ?), but what does this mean in Portuguese ?


----------



## Markus

Another one for France French : *en fait*

Some people I know add this into just about every sentence, just like people who use "actually" all the time in English.


----------



## *charlie*

a word used in england an awful lot is 'innit' which means 'i no yeh' or 'i agree with you' etc mostly used by youngsters as slang lol so yes i have used it


----------



## Outsider

geve said:
			
		

> I understand the Spanish "Mire usted" (look ?), but what does this mean in Portuguese ?


Basically the same.


----------



## lasupersofi

en latino america and california we use "pues" alot, but in spain we always say "vale" and "conyo"


----------



## Outsider

Another common conversational filler in French is _donc_.


----------



## Hakro

It's also worth keeping in mind that f***ing is not a bad word if it's pronounced in a proper way: *f* as in stuf*f*, *u* as in g*u*ild, *c* as in mus*c*le, *k* as in *k*night, *i* as in fr*i*end, *n* as in solem*n* and *g* as in si*g*n.


----------



## Mutichou

geve said:
			
		

> almost all French politics start each of their sentences with the word "*écoutez*" (which would be the equivalent of "look" I think).


No, it means "listen".
In French, I often use "alors" ("so", "then"), "bon" ("well"), "euh" ("erm").


----------



## la reine victoria

Hakro said:
			
		

> It's also worth keeping in mind that f***ing is not a bad word if it's pronounced in a proper way: *f* as in stuf*f*, *u* as in g*u*ild, *c* as in mus*c*le, *k* as in *k*night, *i* as in fr*i*end, *n* as in solem*n* and *g* as in si*g*n.


 
Hakro,

I'd rather play an 'evil level' game of Sudoku than puzzle out what you are trying to say.  Is it simply 'F'?

Whatever way you dress it up it is still an obscene word to use in conversation and is generally indicative of one with a limited vocabulary.  Uttered (in private) as a stronger word than 'damn' it can be very therapeutic.  My computer's ears sometimes hear it and it makes my mouse squeak and tremble in terror!

I respect your opinion.  

LRV


----------



## Outsider

I think his idea is that that f is silent, since you only need the first one for the sound.


----------



## geve

LRV, I think that what Hakro is trying to say (I spent 5 plain minutes to decipher this  ) is that it's okay to say the F-word if you pronounce each letter as a mute one. So, it's okay to say it if there is no sound coming out of your mouth... Did I get this or should I start sudoku too ??



			
				Mutichou said:
			
		

> No, it means "listen".
> In French, I often use "alors" ("so", "then"), "bon" ("well"), "euh" ("erm").


I know that "listen" _means_ "écouter"  But I was wondering if, when used as a conversational filler, anglophones would say "look" when we say "écoute" ?


----------



## la reine victoria

geve said:
			
		

> LRV, I think that what Hakro is trying to say (I spent 5 plain minutes to decipher this  ) is that it's okay to say the F-word if you pronounce each letter as a mute one. So, it's okay to say it if there is no sound coming out of your mouth... Did I get this or should I start sudoku too ??
> 
> 
> I know that "listen" _means_ "écouter"  But I was wondering if, when used as a conversational filler, anglophones would say "look" when we say "écoute" ?


 
Dear Geve,

I took the 'f' as in 'stuf*f' *to be 'f' which is how I came to 'F'.  But I think you are right, so forget the sudoku - especially 'evil level'! 

Hats off to Hakro for taking the time to create this puzzle.

LRV


----------



## Hakro

la reine victoria said:
			
		

> I took the 'f' as in 'stuf*f' *to be 'f' which is how I came to 'F'.  But I think you are right, so forget the sudoku - especially 'evil level'!
> 
> Hats off to Hakro for taking the time to create this puzzle.


Exactly, the second f is not pronounced.
Thanks but this is not my invention. I once found it from the web.


----------



## BasedowLives

> I know that "listen" _means_ "écouter"  But I was wondering if, when used as a conversational filler, anglophones would say "look" when we say "écoute" ?


I understood what you meant.  Yeah, "look" is a little more common than "listen".  Though both are used.  Listen carries kind of a condescending tone though, so it'd be used probably against your opponent while look is used to explain things.  (which i have to adjust to when i hear spanish speakers tell me "escucha")

that's my take on it.  perhaps others can say something or disagree.


----------



## opsidol

Some might have mentioned this already but what about 'like' used as a verb in place of 'say'

And then John came over and said "how's it going?"
And then John came over and was like "how's it going?"


----------



## opsidol

Actually, that would probably be:

And then John comes over and he's like "how's it going?"


They seem not to like the past tense much...


----------



## geve

BasedowLives said:
			
		

> I understood what you meant. Yeah, "look" is a little more common than "listen". Though both are used. Listen carries kind of a condescending tone though, so it'd be used probably against your opponent while look is used to explain things. (which i have to adjust to when i hear spanish speakers tell me "escucha")
> 
> that's my take on it. perhaps others can say something or disagree.


Then I guess "listen" is more likely to be used by politicians, while "regular citizens" might prefer "look"... maybe ?


----------



## instantREILLY

I have several friends (including myself) who do use "fucking" as a filler. It's completely mindless, and I'd say even a bit ahead of our time. I've never heard anyone above my own age use the word like this. Everyone does for emphasis and verbal pepper, but I think to use "fucking" the same was as "like" is a very new thing.

When I was in Japan I picked up なんか "nanka".  All of my friends used it excessively.  "Nanka..." "nanka ne...?" "nanka sa..."


----------



## Outsider

_Or_. In Portuguese, _ora_.


----------



## tvdxer

Who uses f***ing as a filler?  That's pretty uncouth.  I don't even hear that in informal conversations!  (Although I hear it quite often used in the  adjective form!)


----------



## CheRie

Yes Chaska Ñawi, the use of "like..." in my daughter's speech is also driving me crazy! 
Another filler she uses is "freaking ..." instead of "f**king"
In Spanish is very common to hear: "o sea,..."


----------



## instantREILLY

tvdxer said:
			
		

> Who uses f***ing as a filler? That's pretty uncouth. I don't even hear that in informal conversations! (Although I hear it quite often used in the adjective form!)



[shrug] That's language and culture for you.


----------



## XavierM

Another one in French, that has not been mentioned yet : "genre". As I hear it  used (and sometimes use it myself, I admit), it is very close to the English 'like' or 'kind of'.

Genre (=type, kind, gender, depending on the context) is used to mean, like, anything, kinda.

I think it first appeared in the expression "un genre de" 
E. g. "un genre de chapeau" = kind of a hat

Then it's spread, genre, everywhere

E.g. 
Il se ramène genre l'air de rien. 
J'étais là genre "ah ouais ?"
Et, genre, qu'est-ce que c'est?
Et il avait, genre..., un genre de t-shirt genre bleu, tu vois, genre.

Also used in the expression 'faire genre' (=faire semblant de)
 E.g. Elle fait genre j'entend pas
 She's like 'I can't hear'


----------



## french4beth

Some people in Quebec seem to need to cuss virtually every time they open their mouths. It's almost like a verbal warm-up... "Hostie, qui fait chaud icitte..." "Tabernak, arrêtes-donc de chialer, maudite!" "Carolis, que tu fais dur, toë" etc.


----------



## fenixpollo

geve said:


> Then I guess "listen" is more likely to be used by politicians, while "regular citizens" might prefer "look"... maybe ?


 I disagree with BSL a little on this one -- I think that "listen" and "look" as sentence starters are equally common and that they carry equal meaning. I don't hear one or the other used more frequently or by a certain segment of the population. 





			
				geve said:
			
		

> But I was wondering if, when used as a conversational filler, anglophones would say "look" when we say "écoute" ?


 Yes, sometimes... because the two terms are basically interchangeable.


----------



## Banana24

In Norwegian there's a lot of _liksom_ (like) and _ikke sant_ (right).[/quote]

In Sweden too, "liksom" is very common, and "tjaa" (um) can be heard, I havnt been there for a while however, I may be out of date,


----------



## linguist786

fenixpollo said:


> ...but if I put the "f" word in there, the meaning would change:
> _I was, f**ing, walking down the street, when, f**ing, this guy comes up to me, and he, f**ing, looks at me all funny..._


hahaha.. hilarious . Sounds like you have Tourettes


----------



## Trina

"Yes, no" or "Yeah, no" is on the increase in Australia. I'd be interested to know if any other countries have encountered it.

Context: Extremely prevalent during interviews of any kind and everyday speech.

Interviewer: I believe this is your first award?
Interviewee: Yeah, no. I've been nominated before but this is my first award.

Yeah, no seems to have replaced "um" - I hardly hear "um" at all these days.

This really annoys me and yet I have heard myself say it on the odd occasion
Can anyone explain how this phenomenon occurs? How does it infiltrate everyday speech so quickly?


----------



## Daddyo

I think all those verbal fillers are a way to force the potential interlocutor to assume a submissive posture of listening. Whoever uses them has not thought carefully about what he/she wants to say, but he/she wants to be speaking rather than thinking. It's a way of saying: shut up while I talk, and don't interrupt.
In Spanish, I've noticed that many many many people have this mannerism in their speech: when placed in the spotlight by having been queried, they immediately answer "No, but...." Even if they agree, or if the answer they give is, in fact, "yes".


----------



## argosdex

In Louisiana y'all is used all the time, but it probably doen't qualify as a "filler", "y'all have a nice day now".

In the old 'hood friggin', frikkin' and freakin' often replaced the F word, specially if your grandmother was around and you'd get smacked if you used the BIG one.

Fuggedabout it, definitely a filler.

"Whatcha frikkin' doin'?"
"Goin' to frikkin' Gino's on Turdy-Turd (33rd) Ave, he got a frikkin' special, two frikkin' slices (of pizza) an' a soda for tree turdy-five (3.35), youse wanna frikkin' come?"
"heeey, fuggedaboutit, Gino's got the best frikkin' pizza"

"Whahappen to friggin' Tony, I ain't friggin seen him around"
"Fuggedaboutit" (don't ask)

"I'm friggin' broke, youse gonna buy me dinner?"
"Fuggedaboutit" (no problem)

"You like them frggin' Cadillacs?"
"Fuggedaboutit (I sure do), Cadillacs is the best"


----------



## dawn-ccino

tagalog

-yung, parang ganon ba?
-alam mo yun?
-di ba?


----------



## Hutschi

Hi,
in TV I saw a special discussion about the communication particle "äh" in the German language. It has no own sense but is used rather often. 

It has several functions, for example to synchronize speaking time and speed of the brain, to avoid breaks and others.

My question is: can this particle be translated to different languages? What is used in different languages if at all?

Is it considered as good or bad, as standard or no standard, as to be avoided?

Best regards
Hutschi


----------



## Earth Dragon

In English there are things like "ehh," or "umm." As a general rule these should be avoided. It tends to give people the idea that you don't know what you're talking about or are lying.


----------



## Hutschi

Hi, thank you. In German language, there is also "ähm" ...

In the past I did not think that it is a word at all but just a sound. But it seems to be a word.

Best regards
Hutschi


----------



## DearPrudence

Are we talking about gap fillers here?
In French too we have *"euh", "hum"*
& more "proper" (?) words like "alors", "voyons", "donc" (that I keep on saying quite against my will )
Indeed, they should be avoided I guess but in reality, it's not that easy. I had to practice for oral presentations & in fact I don't know if the fact of not saying anything & leaving a blank was much better than a "hmm" from time to time. Of course too much of it is just horrible.
Well, I guess it's just a characteristic of what you do when you speak & I guess it's quite unavoidable, isn't it?


----------



## Hutschi

It is indeed a kind of gap filler - and usually it only appears in spoken language - usually without intention to say it. It's quite unavoidable, indeed.

Ich bin - äh - heute hier - äh - ...


----------



## Etcetera

Yes, there's a similarly sounding particle in Russian.


Hutschi said:


> Is it considered as good or bad, as standard or no standard, as to be avoided?


It isn't considered as "bad", really. In fact, it depends on how often a person uses it. Sure, if this "eh" succeeds each word, it's very bad; if it occurs no oftener than once in, say, ten sentences, it's okay. 
Of course, it also depends on the person's manner of speech. And you know, if you like the person and the subject is interesting for you, it's easier to forgive even relatively extensive use of "eh".


----------



## ireney

Moderator's note: My brain is probably overheated these days so I did a reverse merging. Since that would leave the more recent thread without a re-direct I renamed the original conversation "*conversational fillers (like, t'sais, um, f**king) *". My apologies


----------



## avok

French fillers:

"Ben oui", "mais non"


----------



## ayupshiplad

There are also the English fillers 'so' and 'totally', which are rather American I think, and also 'oh my god'! I don't know if 'random' is really a conversation filler, but it's used in the same way that 'fucking' is to replace any adjective:

"Yeah I was like 'ohmygod that random guy was like so totally, like, random!'"


----------



## Macunaíma

I'm _kindda_ surprised nobody has mentioned _*kind of*_ yet! It's one of the conversational fillers I hear most often from English speakers! We have a counterpart in Brazil: _*tipo*_ or, sometimes, *tipo assim*, but it's used almost exclusively by teenagers, especially by girls.

The filler used in Brazil that I hate the most is *"Com certeza!"* when it's used as a response. It could be translated into English as *"Absolutely!"*, only it's more idiotic.

I use _*enfim*_ (anyway) and *veja bem* (you see) all the time in speech. My sister once told me that _*veja bem*_ is quite annoying and makes me sound arrogant and condescending (but then she would say anything just to spite me). I've been trying to cut down on *veja bem*, but sometimes it's stronger than me.

Enfim.

_*Whatever*_ is also used quite often as a filler, isn't it? There's a song by Avril Lavigne I heard on the radio that goes something like: _"She's like so whatever!"_



> "Yeah I was like 'ohmygod that random guy was like so totally, like, random!'"


 
Ayup, this cracked me up! 

_Macunaíma_


----------



## ayupshiplad

> I'm _kindda_ surprised nobody has mentioned _*kind of*_ yet! It's one of the conversational fillers I hear most often from English speakers!


 
Actually, I was going to mention kind of but forgot. Desculpa!

There is also the sentence :"And I was like, what the fuck?" which is used allll the time to replace a thousand possible different sentences, for example : "I was really shocked and bewildered that that happened!" 

There also the 'yeahbutnobutyeah' phenomenon here thanks to Little Britain...it's not terribly frequent, but I hear someone say 'yeah but no' at least once a day I'd say! 

Also, I wonder if random is BE? "Yeah, that's like...random."


----------



## argentina84

Like an Angel said:


> Everbody says _nada_ everywhere, instead of being silent or giving the proper answer they say _nada_.


 
hahaha Es verdad! Pero ahora ya no se usa tanto...creo que el auge fue durante mis años de secundario...me pondré a investigar cuál es la nueva "onda".

Saludos

This thread is very interesting..now I will tell my teacher that the "er" is rather old fashioned as a filler...he has to catch up with the new trends!


----------



## Berlingue

Au Québec, ces temps-ci, on entend beaucoup de:

Tsé (Tsé là chose, là, c'est quoi son nom, tsé là?)
Tsé veux dire (Faque là, tsé veux dire, on a été, tsé, pis tsé veux dire, c'était loin...)
Pis (Pis là, on a rencontré des gens, pis y'étaient gentils, pis on a eu du fun...)
Bin (Bin après, bin, ché pas, tsé on est repartis...bin...pis c'était notre soirée!)
Tsé comme (Faque, tsé comme, c'était l'fun, tsé comme, vraiment l'fun!)

Although a lot of these are used to replace actual words (pis = et puis, tsé = tu sais), they're also used as fillers, out of context.


----------



## avok

Berlingue said:


> Au Québec, ces temps-ci, on entend beaucoup de:
> 
> Tsé (Tsé là chose, là, c'est quoi son nom, tsé là?)
> Tsé veux dire (Faque là, tsé veux dire, on a été, tsé, pis tsé veux dire, c'était loin...)
> Pis (Pis là, on a rencontré des gens, pis y'étaient gentils, pis on a eu du fun...)
> Bin (Bin après, bin, ché pas, tsé on est repartis...bin...pis c'était notre soirée!)
> Tsé comme (Faque, tsé comme, c'était l'fun, tsé comme, vraiment l'fun!)
> 
> Although a lot of these are used to replace actual words (pis = et puis, tsé = tu sais), they're also used as fillers, out of context.


 
"Faque" is the F word used in Quebecois French?? 

In English English: Yes, "oh my god" is one of the best fillers but the speakers usually go "oh my kot" or even "oh my cor" 

Other fillers are: "It's like....", "I think....", "Well......", "And uhh...", " It's kinda...", "It's sorta..."


----------



## Lilla My

I didn't actually read the whole thread but I did look at it, and I think I never saw the word *"hein" *as a filler in French ! I use it quiet often but it's nothing compared to my uncle who says it at the end of *every* sentences (like other people use "quoi").

I also use and hear *"en même temps"* at the beginning of a (negative) sentence :
"En même temps, j'ai jamais dit que je parlais correctement"


----------



## Berlingue

avok said:


> "Faque" is the F word used in Quebecois French??


 
Ah non, désolée...

Faque = Ça fait que
(aussi s'faque)


----------



## sdr083

la reine victoria said:


> Another irksome way of speaking is by ending every sentence with the voice asking a question. So we went out to lunch yester*day*? I think this originated with certain television programmes but don't know their country of origin.
> LRV


Deborah Cameron calls this "uptalk" and claims it comes from American English.

Common fillers in Norwegian would be:
_eeeeeh/eeeem/mmmmm_
_ikkesant?/sant? _((not)true? = right?) 
_men _(but) - "mennn-eeeeeh..."
_liksom/lissom _(used more or less like _like _in English)
_atte.../vissatte... _(that/if that...)
_veit du/vet du_ (you know)

Wikipedia has this to say about common fillers.

Fillers are often perceived as sloppiness in speach, but they do actually have functions. They usually have to do with _contact control_ i.e. they're a way of regulating the relationship between the speakers. Very often they are used to maintain your _turn_ - you have more to say, but need time to organize your thoughts and want to signal to the other that you haven't finished (only works of course as long as the others find interrupting impolite ). The fillers, and more generally, the discourse markers we use depend on dialect, age, social background, gender etc. From working with a corpus of youth speech in Madrid I know that _o sea _and _¿sabes?_ are among the most common fillers. However, both are used more by girls than boys, and especially by girls from a more or less upper class background. Must admit I'm impressed by some of the communication. It can go a bit like this:
_- yyyy entonces y yyyy pues nada osea oseaaa bueno es que en plan no se ¿__sabes? _
_- ya, tía, vamos_


----------



## Stiannu

I'm not a linguist. But there must be a difference between phonetic particles without a meaning, and words or expressions that normally have a meaning but are usually used as fillers. 

In Italian, the 1st kind is _eh_, sometimes curiously pronounced as the French _euh_ even if the sound is not used in Italian words. Also _mah_ (expressing perplexity) or _beh_ are used.

The 2nd kind consists of words like _cioè_ ("that is", "c'est-à-dire"), _ecco_ ("here it is", "voilà"), or _...no?_ ("... isn't it?", "... n'est-ce pas?").

_Cioè, in pratica, io la vedo, no? e vado lì e le dico "scusa, non è che, cioè, mi faresti un autografo?". E cioè, lei non mi ha neanche guardato, ecco. _


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## CrazyArcher

In Hebrew, a common filler among the young ones is "keilu" ("like" or "as if") - yep, it's all the same everywhere. Other cases that make me mad are, for instance "ve'hu kaze omer..." ("and he, like, says..."). I just hate when people stuff that crap everywhere! 

In Russian it's clearly the obscene "бля", which can be shoved everywhere. However, it's used only in VERY informal conversations, don't even try to say it!!!


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## HistofEng

ayupshiplad said:


> There also the 'yeahbutnobutyeah' phenomenon here thanks to Little Britain...it's not terribly frequent, but I hear someone say 'yeah but no' at least once a day I'd say!


 
My best friend and I do this all the time but it's not that common, as you say.

One strange way that we use it in converstion could go as follows:

Me: _I walked over and asked if I could get some whiskey and...._
Him: _So wait... did you walk over to the girl or the guy??_
Me: _Oh, the guy....no but yeah, so I asked him for_ [...storytelling continues]

We both realize that it's a meaningless filler that's seemingly contradictory, it just feels natural to say. But one filler that I feel bad saying but fall prey to once in a while is 'like' at the end of a sentence.

_I wanted to, like, tell her what happened, but I couldn't, like._


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## ayupshiplad

There's also the word 'gutted' (normally said with a glottal stop as a filler) which is used alllllll the time.

"I've got a NAB today." "Aw, gutted." 
"You going to be in form?" "Probably not..!" "Aw, gutted man."

Normally it's like 'dégouté' in French, but when it carries that meaning it's never said with a glottal stop...interesting!


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## ajfoucault

Here in venezuela what we usually use is "osea"


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## JazzByChas

_


			
				jinti said:
			
		


Student: I gotta take the um, gnome sane, test, gnome sane, for the um, gnome sane....
		
Click to expand...

_ 
{ROTFLMAO!!!}

If I weren't a former resident of the Capital of the USA, Washington, DC, I would have just overlooked this, but having heard this in many conversations among native speakers on AAVE, it just had to break out laughing!

Now...unfortunately, conversational fillers have become a bit of a verbal shorthand, making it easier to add emphasis, or just fill in those mind lapses, rather than using real words with real meaning.  Mind you, I am as guilty as anyone else, but that would only be in everyday conversation.  If I am talking to my children, I try to break them of the habit of verbal laziness, but...<sigh> what can you do...(we will ignore my hypocrisy, here...) Hopefully, when they grow up, all these things I have been drilling into their heads will come back to haunt them, as in my case! 

N.B: That gnome is sane, alright (_read: crazy like a fox_)


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## Lingvisten

Danish fillers would be:

øh = um or eh
lig'som = like (was most used amongst teenagers in the 90s)
ikke sandt = right (mostly used by old, 'upperclass' folks)
ik' o's / ik' å' / ik' = right (the first used in mainly Jutland, the second in the city of Århus and the third in Copenhagen)
så... = so...
så deeeeet... = so thaaaaat... (mainly used by rural folks from Seeland)
forstår du hvad jeg mener? -> 'står du hva' j' mener? = you know what im saying?

The last only recently became common in danish among teenagers. the most common in general is definitly "øh"


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## l_DiNgO_l

Peruvians always say:
-Claro but instead of the pues we also say "pe" 
A contraction of "pues"
- Chucha 
- Huevon 
- Ya pe, (pues)

You can add a "pe" to almost every ending of sentence if u want: Ex:
-Hola como estas = "Habla pe" como estas?
- Estoy bien        = (estoy) "Bien pe" tu?
- Tambien           = "Ahi... pe"
...etc...

I've seen that salvadorian people always use the words:
-"Maje", "Cerote", "culero" , "gato" to talk about guys  
- "Puta". In every sentence. 
- "Bichas" to talk talk about ladies. Who comes of the Bit... in english

It think, Chaska, that bolivians use a lot the words "papacito" "papito" "papacho" + Lindo.  And "mamacita" "mamacha" "mamita" + linda? 
gnome sane

And french use a lot words like  (among students)
Euuuuh, ben, enfin, bah voila, pfffff ecoutez
They aren't words but more like interjections that they use some times in the begining  of a sentence. 

Byes


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## Chaska Ñawi

l_DiNgO_l said:


> It think, Chaska, that bolivians use a lot the words "papacito" "papito" "papacho" + Lindo.  And "mamacita" "mamacha" "mamita" + linda?
> gnome sane



Bolivians use the diminutive suffix for _everything_.  You're right, it does qualify as a filler.

Examples:

Permiso   =                    permisito
besos      =                    besitos
ahora    =                      ahorita
un cafe     =                  un cafecito
Queda sentado    =         queda sentadito

This even applies to Quechua words, but more in Spanish than in Quechua.  The most common examples are huarmicita and imillita (mujercita, jovencita).

Fathers are often addressed as "Papito" by their children, and you do hear "mamacita" for a hot chick (not so often papacito for a man, though).


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## l_DiNgO_l

Chaska Ñawi said:


> Bolivians use the diminutive suffix for _everything_.  You're right, it does qualify as a filler.
> 
> And not only Bolivians. Peruvians, Ecuatorians, Colombian...and even Mexicans
> COmo olvidar la famosisima donña florinda cuando decia "Profesor Jirafales, no desea usted tomar una tasita de cafe?"
> 
> But what makes me laugh is that ONLY Bolivians call theyr friends "papacho" et "papacito".
> 
> "Acho" and "Acha" are diminutives in quechua langage also.
> 
> In Peru only "natives" say sometimes "papacho" to refer to persons. Whereas in BOlivia almost everybody says. Unless that's what i've seen...
> 
> PS: Sorry for my gramar.


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## Chaska Ñawi

l_DiNgO_l said:


> But what makes me laugh is that ONLY Bolivians call theyr friends "papacho" et "papacito".
> 
> "Acho" and "Acha" are diminutives in quechua langage also.
> 
> In Peru only "natives" say sometimes "papacho" to refer to persons. Whereas in BOlivia almost everybody says. Unless that's what i've seen...
> 
> PS: Sorry for my gramar.



I never heard either of these in this context in Spanish.  It could be that I heard them in Quechua and missed them, because my Quechua is quite basic.

Or maybe I just move in the wrong social circles .......

Actually, I guess the diminutive only counts as a conversational filler when you're using it to buy time - and pues and osea are so much more useful for this purpose.


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## toolmanUF

I'll add an example from Arabic.

When I was studying Arabic in Jordan, I couldn't beleive how many times people would say "yani" when they were speaking. Even when they spoke English (and many Jordanians speak fluent English) they would say "yani" after nearly every sentence! 

In Arabic, this means "it means" but it is used as a filler, at least in the spoken Jordanian dialect. Are there any other Arabic speakers who have noticed this? Are there other filler words in Arabic that are more common in other dialects?


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## Fluteroo

Brioche said:


> I've been told that the *rising terminal* is the fault of Australians.
> 
> It seems to be most common among young women in the lower socio-economic groups.



I am a bloody wog though a dedicated and observing linguist and have been trying to imitate the feature as a way of assimilation, it is indeed a very australian thing to do, though it shows up a lot of humbleness and indicates the acceptance of dissent or the likelihood of a mistake, all in a musical way. I point you to the other feauture the unique and beautiful pronunciation of "Y" so the new Citisenship Test should require all new citizens to say " This Year" . Lucky they were not aware of that so I will be voting for my worker rights next saturday...I think I will feel really pleased to be an aussie next saturday Arvo.(Did you hear the raising pitch at the end of the sentence?)


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## cherine

toolmanUF said:


> I'll add an example from Arabic.
> 
> When I was studying Arabic in Jordan, I couldn't beleive how many times people would say "yani" when they were speaking. Even when they spoke English (and many Jordanians speak fluent English) they would say "yani" after nearly every sentence!
> 
> In Arabic, this means "it means" but it is used as a filler, at least in the spoken Jordanian dialect. Are there any other Arabic speakers who have noticed this? Are there other filler words in Arabic that are more common in other dialects?


Yes, this is a very common filler in Arabic. People would even use it when speaking other languages. I remember once in the university, a colleague was answering a question, and kept "filling" her answers with ya'ni يعني between sentences, and sometimes even between the words of the same sentence. The professor interrupted her saying: "il n'y a pas de ya'ni" (=there's no ya'ni [in French])  I guess that was the first time for me to notice how often that words was/is used as a filler.

Some other fillers, in Egypt, are: 3aref (you know), fahem (you understand), wakhed balak (are you paying attention)....

P.S. Not everyone use those fillers all the time. Some people almost never use them, others use them a bit too much


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## toolmanUF

Cherine,

Now that you mention it, I remember that when I was in Spain I would speak to a lot of Moroccans and I even tried to study their dialect a bit, and one filler word that was quite common was fhamt/ fhamti? (did you understand?) I don't remember hearing this as much in Jordan.

I have a quick question. Could you write the Arabic for the third filler that you mentioned? (The one with balak.) Is there an equivalent in Fusha?


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## Baunilha

It's also a common way to figure out if the auditorium understands what you are saying. _Back chanel behavior/discours markers...._ markers that indicate that you offer new information, markers that indicate that you want to know if the auditorium recieved the information you have offered them. Quite an interesting phenomenon. 

Also in Gender studies you may fiend a source of information for this topic. Women are known for their back chanel behavior.


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## cherine

toolmanUF said:


> I have a quick question. Could you write the Arabic for the third filler that you mentioned? (The one with balak.) Is there an equivalent in Fusha?


Sure 

واخد بالك wákhed bálak (to a male), wakhda bálek واخدة بالك (to a female), واخدين بالكو/بالكم wakhdín bálko/bálkom (to plural male or female or mixt)

(I put a tilde/accent on the long vowels)

I'm not sure about the equivalent in fusHa, but you're welcome to ask about it in the Arabic forum


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## Stiannu

In Wolof (used in Senegal and Gambia) I've noticed a frequent use of _walla..._ (or...); and the two interrogative clauses _dégg nga?_ (did you understand?) and _xam nga?_ (you know?); but the latter are pronounced so quickly that they're hardly recognizable (_déggë?_ _xamë?_).

Conversational fillers are used mostly in urban language, so... code-switching is very frequent and Senegalese will conclude a Wolof sentence with _..., quoi!_ (à la française)


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## little_vegemite

I'm not sure that these count as conversation fillers like "like " etc. but people tend to ask a lot of rhetorical questions throughout telling a story or just having finished one or simply as part of conversation, and the usual response to these "rhetorical questions" is "I know..." 
eg. "How cold is it?" "I know.." 
"And then he's like 'sthgsthgsthg' But I mean how annoying was that??" "I know.." 
"How pointless was that meeting?" "I know.." 
And the funny thing is that the intonation is always more like a statement than a question.


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## ElenaElless

Really funny topic !
There are some conversational fillers in Romanian too , like:

"serios?" ( = "really?")
"intelegi ? " (= "so you understand"?")
"pai" ( = "well..")
"stii?" (= "you know?")
"mda" (= sort of a "uhm.. yeah")
"man" (actually means man but it's pronunced with the "a" as in car - sorry I don't really know phonetics)
---
some girls use "fata"(=girl) as a filler inside the sentences, some boys use "moshule" (=old man)

That's it for now!


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## carolinafornia

I was actually told to tell my students to record on their Spanish exam "pues" "o sea" and "bueno" while they were thinking instead of just being silent.

In English, you may have exhausted the list...I HOPE!  Except here in Cali, we're hearing a lot of text speak, like *omg* for "oh my god" etc.


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## ewie

carolinafornia said:


> here in Cali, we're hearing a lot of text speak, like *omg* for "oh my god" etc.


Do you mean people are actually *saying* _oh-em-jee_?


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## Mahaodeh

cherine said:


> Sure
> 
> واخد بالك wákhed bálak (to a male), wakhda bálek واخدة بالك (to a female), واخدين بالكو/بالكم wakhdín bálko/bálkom (to plural male or female or mixt)
> 
> (I put a tilde/accent on the long vowels)
> 
> I'm not sure about the equivalent in fusHa, but you're welcome to ask about it in the Arabic forum


 
In Jordan I'v heard shaeif keef and in Iraq shaeif shloun as filler words; I guess it's sort of pan-Arab (in the meaning).

Ya'ni, however, is by far the most common, I've heard it from Iraqis, Syrians, Lebanise, Emaratis and Sudanese in addition to Jordanians and Egyptians. I've also heard Taqreeban (almost) from many, once an Egyptian was saying to me: ta'reeban kanit talata mitr bizabT (it was almost three meters exactly!). Iraqis also use Tab'an (of course) as a filler word.

However, as cherine mentioned, some people never use filler words.


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## HistofEng

ewie said:


> Do you mean people are actually *saying* _oh-em-jee_?


 
Some select people do that here too. With a much higher concentration among college girls.


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## Orpington

Here in the UK I often hear people actually saying 'LOL' in speech. Either pronounced 'loll' or 'L.O.L'. OMG is quite common too, pronounced oh-em-jeeeeeeeee.

I've also, on a couple of occasions, heard ROFL and LMAO. LMAO pronounced Lamb-ow.


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## ewie

_Lamb-ow_?!  Wow!
(For a 'fascinating' discussion about the all-pervasiveness etc. of that conversation-filler par excellence click this > *LOL*)


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## anothersmith

"You know" is a common English filler, used by people of all ages.  

Teenagers and people in their early 20s sometimes use "[is] all" to mean "said":

So my mom's all "clean your room" and I'm all "like, whatever."


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## mally pense

Orpington said:


> Here in the UK I often hear people actually saying 'LOL' in speech. Either pronounced 'loll' or 'L.O.L'. OMG is quite common too, pronounced oh-em-jeeeeeeeee.
> 
> I've also, on a couple of occasions, heard ROFL and LMAO. LMAO pronounced Lamb-ow.


 
I suppose this is an inevitable step from online abbreviation to actual speech, but I'd question whether it is purely used as a filler. It has a semantic meaning of its own, it is not merely padding.. though of course it is possible for it to sometimes be used this way, but not lol like it's lol used like like is like if you errm like see what I mean like?


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## raptor

I have also heard people say "oh-em-jee" and ROFL (rhyming with awful), but I have not heard LMAO spoken out loud.  LOL can be said as is the word loll, less commonly "el-owh-el".
As for the Spanish "pues", it's actually in Spanish textbooks and students learn it as part of the curriculum 
I have also heard Spanish "¿verdad?" and German, "richtig" for "right?", but I'm not sure if they are used as filler words.

Interesting thread!


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## Arrius

Some people, particularly when they are being interviewed on radio or TV and are possibly a bit nervous, intersperse what they say with the redundant phrase* y'know* (you know). This phrase may sometimes be repeated so often that it can reach the proportions of a verbal disease, and become extremely irritating to the listener, especially since the interviewer _wouldn't have asked_ _if he knew! _
What similarly unnecessary words or phrases are repeated pointlessly like this in other languages, and what is their literal meaning? 
_Nicht?, _short for _nicht wahr? (isn't it?)_ in German, for instance, is used in the same way, but not I think as repetitively as _y'know_ in English. But the repeated word or phrase does not necessarily have to mean what the above English or German words do.


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## Montesacro

Some (Italian) people will sprinkle their monologues with a huge amount of _cioè_.
_Cioè_ means "i.e.", but it is also used before a correction (in this latter case it can be translated as "or rather").


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## Grop

_Vous savez_, this happens in French too, _vous voyez_.

(More common in the singular: _tu sais, tu vois_ - and the connoted _t'as vu_).


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## Arrius

In colloquial Arabic _ya3ni _from the verb*عَنَى*(to mean) is a frequent filler, with the meaning _you know_ or _I mean,_ or even just _well... (_but literally it means *it means).*


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