Re: verbal diarrhoea

Nik wrote:

>As I understand it, _anou_ is a polite way of getting someone's
>attention.
>Anou ...
>Hai?
>Can you tell me how to get to the post office?
For me, "anoo" can be used as "um" or "er", but as Nik explained, it
is a discreet way of getting attention, akin to "ahem" (gently
clearing the throat), since you wouldn't *dream* of presuming to
impose on someone else's space (I am reluctant to bother you, but...)
. "Anoo saa" is a wee bit more pushy, but still gets the job done
politely. "Eeeeeeto" is "um" in the sense of "where was I?", "what
was I just talking about?", "let me reprise my train of thought"...
"Ma" is also an option in the sense of "well, um, gee, er, so...".

Kou

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