Saturday, October 20, 2007

"Um" in Chinese

On last week's On the Media, I learned about a book titled "Um".

Not only does this book catalog the fascinating linguistic phenomenon of filler words, but it clarifies something I heard in China. I frequently heard people say a Chinese phrase, which it turns out means "this or that", and which is apparently the Chinese equivalent of "um".

It sounds astonishingly like "nigga". It really sticks out to the American ear, but it is harmless, in fact signifying nothing. Wow.

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