Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1
G
Gautam Offline OP
stranger
OP Offline
stranger
G
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1
Hi! Folks,

I am a newbie out here and this is my first post. Anyway down to brasstacks.

Yesterday a friend asked me if any word in English describes the usage of a particular word repeatedly.

For e.g. a Professor of mine had this habit of using the word "right?" after every sentence he spoke in class. ("The Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns would apply to this situation. Right? and so on)

Been wracking my mind on what could be the word to describe such usage.

For those reader who are familiar with Hindi, I am looking for the equivalent of the word "Takia Kalam"

Looking forward to hear from you folks.

Ciao
Gautam

Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Hello, from stranger to stranger. In my language they call the often irritating thing a "stopword".(stopwoordje)
I guess it can be regarded as a nervous phenomenen (tic). Involuntary interruptions of speech.
I know someone who uses about three times "You know?" before he gets to the end of the sentence. Tedious.

I'm curious to learn the English word for it too. \:\)

Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
hmm. to start with, stopwords are something entirely else in (English) computerese. hmm.

-joe (um, could be fillers , you know?) friday

Last edited by tsuwm; 03/28/08 01:49 PM. Reason: added link to filler
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
welcome, Gautam.

how about "annoying"?


and Bran, you're a Pooh-bah, you're no Stranger. :¬ )


formerly known as etaoin...
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
Offline
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
Hey Gautam

Welcome to the board. I'm an infrequent dropper in, but I'm sure the regulars will give you a rousing reception.

If I'm not mistaken takia kalam (a phrase new to me) is probably more Urdu/Persian than Sanskrit. Am I right in assuming it translates as "pillow pen" or "pillow talk"?

The closest that English has, to my knowledge, for this is something like "catchphrase", though the usage is quite different.

I have also heard writers describe such behaviour as a form of 'verbal tic', but again, that's a far more general description than the specific one you seek.

Wish I could have been more helpful.

cheer

the sunshine warrior

PS. Ha! It's taken me just over 8 years to get to 1000 posts!

Last edited by shanks; 03/28/08 01:49 PM.
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
see link to 'filler' above, as my post was superseded by others while I was editing.

Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
I'd go with discourse marker (link). Other kinds of disfluencies (link) are fillers (link) and hedges (link)


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
more on fillers

-joe (dueling disfluencies) friday

Gautam #175236 03/28/08 02:57 PM
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Perhaps signature phrase, catchphrase, or personal cliché.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
zmjezhd #175237 03/28/08 03:01 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
old hand
Offline
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,004
 Originally Posted By: zmjezhd
Perhaps signature phrase, catchphrase, or personal cliché.


Zigackly. In context, with my limited Hindi, that's what I thought too. Haven't heard the phrase 'personal cliché' before though.

Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,912
Posts229,283
Members9,179
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV, Heather_Turey, Standy
9,179 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 444 guests, and 3 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,510
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5