Posted on 11/17/2013 7:17:58 AM PST by SeekAndFind
What’s the most universal utterance in languages across the globe?
Male voice: Huh?
Correct!
Male voice: Huh?
That’s right.
Male voice: HUH?
Exactly. Because a new study finds that everybody around the world does indeed say “huh?” The finding is the journal PLOS One. [Mark Dingemanse Francisco Torreira and N. J. Enfield, Is “Huh?” a Universal Word? Conversational Infrastructure and the Convergent Evolution of Linguistic Items]
The researchers were exploring linguistic tools people use to assure fluid communication. In this case, they were looking for an interjection that signals that a listener missed something, and prompts the speaker to repeat or rephrase the original statement. In other words, something that works like the English word “Huh?”
So they eavesdropped on nearly 200 conversations in 10 different tongues, from Italian to Icelandic. And they found that, in language after language, a word that sounds a lot like “huh?” gets the job done. For example, [international huhs]. It’s short and sweet so it’s likely to stop the speaker before the listener gets too lost. And it sounds like a question [more international huhs], so it warrants a response.
The sound appears not to be innate. Babies don’t use it before they say mama. But most five-year-olds are masters of “huh?” No matter where they come from.
(Excerpt) Read more at scientificamerican.com ...
I can see what you taught your children, your self praise by not having kids say "huh" rings hollow, judging by your unshakable attachment to cussing.
Well gosh darn, didn’t you just shame the heck out of me and put me in my place.
Bless your heart.
Your teachings sure come through.
Ruh roh.
Well played.
You got pwn3d. Get over it.
mwot? wae?
Lol, you must be joking, she simply revealed the hypocrisy of her earlier complaint against the word, huh.
Now you want to jump in and get some kind of flame war started it seems.
Hell and Damn ain’t cussing. Preachers say those two words, all the time.
What IS cussing, is if I called you a f******g ******ole mot********r son of a ****** c*******king ****tard ******slapped f****ole *****-fer-brains *****sack p****y.
Now THAT would be *CUSSING*.
Ya *******r.
Yeah, you just wanted to do one of your flame things, well you did it.
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