I live in Australia, and I went back to Jordan for a holiday. I went to a barber's shop and as usual in there was a conversation between me and the barber.
All of a sudden he told me you don't live here, you must be from a foreign country. I was shocked because I did not say anything about that.
I told him yes, but how did you know?
He said when you were thinking you filled the pause with "mmmmmmmm" while in Jordan we fill it with "aaaaaaaaa"
Is it true that "mmmmmmm" is the English way of filling a pause? Is there another letter to fill the pause with beside "mmmm" and "aaaaa"?
Best Answer
There are quite a few "filler words" that can be used to indicate a pause for thought. Most of them are not real words, but are sounds like "umm", "mmm", "er", "uh" or "ah". This has lead to the phrase "umming and ahing" to describe someone having difficulty making a decision.
Sometimes people also use the word "like" whilst thinking, but this can annoy some people.