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I see a lot of speculation about what causes this, but if it is actually serving some sort of important linguistic purpose we would expect it to generalize beyo

by defen 12y ago

I see a lot of speculation about what causes this, but if it is actually serving some sort of important linguistic purpose we would expect it to generalize beyond the English language, right? Do French geeks start their sentences with "Si, ..." (or equivalent)?

nothrabannosir 12y ago
Not sure how reliable this self-evaluation is, but I do imagine I'm starting quite some sentences with "alors," or "bon,".
- defen 12y ago
  Interesting, another French speaker just said the same thing: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9364161 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9364161
StavrosK 12y ago
I have it on good authority that the Spanish equivalent is "así".
pluma 12y ago
Germans use "Also, ..." (which confusingly means the same as "so" in English whereas English "also" is "auch" in German and German "so" most of the time means "like this" -- false friends all around). My impression to this point had been that it wasn't specific to geeks but rather to speakers who are a bit uncomfortable. For example, I recall hearing a lot of students use it all the time while nervously giving presentations, desperately trying not to de-rail their trains of thought. As geeks tend to be more socially awkward, I'm fairly certain it actually has less to do with geekiness and more with lack of confidence -- I've seen decidedly non-geeks do it when they're nervous. As for the "So, ..." with a pause for dramatic effect: I find that the implications tend to depend on context. I can confirm the use with the meaning of "I will try to explain concepts unfamiliar to you using analogues hopefully more familiar to you and this is going to take me some mental effort" but I disagree that this is specific to geeks, unless you define "geek" as "someone more familiar with a given topic than you". I can also confirm its use followed by a summary of what the other person said ("So, ... you're saying this is a bad idea?"). I don't think the use to re-boot a conversation after an awkward pause or to change the topic is as common in German, though other fillers like "Okay, ..." tend to be used the same way. The functions definitely aren't unique to English and there is a lot of overlap in the words being used. The author comes off as a bit too much of an armchair linguist for my taste.
jasode 12y ago
Yes, linguists call it "discourse markers", or "discourse particles", or "filler" words. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filler_%28linguistics%29#Filler_words_in_different_languages http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filler_%28linguistics%29#Filler...

by defen 12y ago

nothrabannosir 12y ago

Not sure how reliable this self-evaluation is, but I do imagine I'm starting quite some sentences with "alors," or "bon,".

defen 12y ago
Interesting, another French speaker just said the same thing: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9364161 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9364161

StavrosK 12y ago

I have it on good authority that the Spanish equivalent is "así".

pluma 12y ago

Germans use "Also, ..." (which confusingly means the same as "so" in English whereas English "also" is "auch" in German and German "so" most of the time means "like this" -- false friends all around). My impression to this point had been that it wasn't specific to geeks but rather to speakers who are a bit uncomfortable. For example, I recall hearing a lot of students use it all the time while nervously giving presentations, desperately trying not to de-rail their trains of thought. As geeks tend to be more socially awkward, I'm fairly certain it actually has less to do with geekiness and more with lack of confidence -- I've seen decidedly non-geeks do it when they're nervous. As for the "So, ..." with a pause for dramatic effect: I find that the implications tend to depend on context. I can confirm the use with the meaning of "I will try to explain concepts unfamiliar to you using analogues hopefully more familiar to you and this is going to take me some mental effort" but I disagree that this is specific to geeks, unless you define "geek" as "someone more familiar with a given topic than you". I can also confirm its use followed by a summary of what the other person said ("So, ... you're saying this is a bad idea?"). I don't think the use to re-boot a conversation after an awkward pause or to change the topic is as common in German, though other fillers like "Okay, ..." tend to be used the same way. The functions definitely aren't unique to English and there is a lot of overlap in the words being used. The author comes off as a bit too much of an armchair linguist for my taste.

jasode 12y ago

Yes, linguists call it "discourse markers", or "discourse particles", or "filler" words. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filler_%28linguistics%29#Filler_words_in_different_languages http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filler_%28linguistics%29#Filler...