Re: CHAT: ...y'know

At 12:32 pm -0500 27/6/99, David T Shoda wrote:
>On Sun, 27 Jun 1999, Kristian Jensen wrote:
>
>> Speaking of discourse markers, I was watching TV the other day and this
>>American on TV habitually kept on using "y'know" here and there in a
>>sentence. That made me wonder, what purpose does this repeated use of
>>"y'know" have? Is it some kind of particle or marker? Any conlangs with
>>such a marker?
>>
>> -kristian- 8)
>
>Kristian--
>
>The phrase seems to be used moreoften as a "silence filler", synonymous to
>"uuhh".
Yep - this annoying habit is common here as well.  Way back in the 1960s,
70s I remember hearing "like" used the same way, but I've not heard that in
recent years.  As well as the simple "y'know" those who need constantly to
make longer pauses keep punctuating their discourse with "y'know what I
mean".

>Doesn't contribute as a structural particle; doesn't usually find
>instances so much in writing as in speech.
Certainly contributes nothing in spoken discourse.  As these phrases are
usually uttered with rising intonation, I often answer the pesky things
with: "No, I don't".  That invariably throws these careless speakers as
they take a few moments to figure out what I replied to.  But if one has
the patience to actually answers these meaningless tags, the speakers will
drop them.

"Right" is used by some in very much the same way.  But tho this can be
said with rising pitch, it's quite often said with a falling tone as tho
the speaker's saying: "So that's that - and you'd better accept it".  The
response then is simply: "No, not right" - especially if a rarely seen
student is given a trite excuse for late arrival  :)

Of course, the really determined space fillers will the resort to
_beginning_ sentences with "Basically......."   I haven't worked out a
response to this yet.

Basically, it seems to mean symptomatic of sloppy thinking, right, know
what I mean?

Ray.