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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

What do you call...?

0What do you call words like 'err..', 'arm..', 'a..' and so on which had made a sentence longer and ungrammartical/0-
  

Top answer

0 They are known as "crutch words", and are a way of giving yourself time to find the right words. They are also verbal tics. For instance, when under pressure, Tony Blair often starts a sentence with "Look".

— Feebs11

  • 0 They are known as "crutch words", and are a way of giving yourself time to find the right words.
  • They are also verbal tics.
  • For instance, when under pressure, Tony Blair often starts a sentence with "Look".
  • 0-
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3 Answers
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0 They are known as "crutch words", and are a way of giving yourself time to find the right words. They are also verbal tics. For instance, when under pressure, Tony Blair often starts a sentence with "Look". 0-
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0 I would agree "longer", but not "ungrammatical".02br
00They're called pause words. Often they're not even complete words -- just sounds like 'uh' and 'mm'.02br
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00CJ 0-
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0We don't see them in print often, except in written conversation. 02br
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00In the sentence, they may have purpose. 02br
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00"Um-m-m" may indicate indecision.02br
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00"Ah" may indicates a pause.02br
02br
00"What kind of ice cream do you want?" 02br
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00"Um-m-m, vanilla, I suppose."02
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