# Do non-English-speakers say "like"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 2, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920 "2011-02-02T18:30:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/21 "2011-02-02T23:18:40Z")
> [@Geek\_Mecha](#): > > “Da kine” is not a filler, it’s a placeholder for a noun or verb. Thanks for the explanation. As I said, I’ve heard it quite a bit but never figured out what the heck it meant. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/22 "2011-02-03T03:14:15Z")
Like **not\_alice** said Japanese has a ton of examples, but the one I most often hear around young people is ‘sa.’ An example, “Hey sa, I sa to the store sa, will go sa, wanna come with?” ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/23 "2011-02-03T05:31:04Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > Arabs and other middle eastern and south asian languages use “yani” They use it in Israel, too. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/24 "2011-02-03T06:00:47Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > It’s probably a Québec thing, and maybe even limited to Montreal, but lately I’ve heard people speaking French and using the English word “like” as a filler word. That or _comme_. **Kobal** says _tu vois_, in Quebec it’d usually be _tu sais_ (shortened as _tsé_). > [@bordelond](#): > > **Kobal** (or any French speaker) … in this usage, does the final _-re_ in _genre_ tend to get weakened, or even unpronounced? Not more than usual. _Genre_ is usually one syllable long anyway, but the ‘r’ is definitely audible. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/25 "2011-02-03T07:18:50Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > In Spanish a lot of people seem to use “este” as a filler word (often drawing out the second syllable until they’re ready to say something)… its literal meaning is closer to “this” than “like” though. Yeah, but that’s not exactly a filler, as it has meaning: “este” or “esto” is shorthand for “one sec, I’ve got it on the tip of my tongue, what was it… oh yeah!” A filler is not just a word which gets repeated often or which has no direct grammatical relationship with those around it: it’s a word used exclusively to fill up the space. They’re the styrofoam peanuts of language. > [@Geek\_Mecha](#): > > “Da kine” is not a filler, it’s a placeholder for a noun or verb. Ah, “da kine” is Hawaiian for “smurf”! I’m now wondering whether Peyo ever went to Hawaii 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/26 "2011-02-03T07:51:50Z")
In Italy , I’ve heard ‘alora’ quite a bit as a filler. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/27 "2011-02-03T08:37:09Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > In French, many people pepper their speech with “genre” which is more or less the same as the Valley-speak “like”. Also : “tu vois” (“you know/you see”), “je veux dire” (“I mean”) and ending their sentences with “quoi” (“what.”) > > J’veux dire, c’est genre difficile de s’en empêcher à l’oral, quoi. Genre on s’en rend même plus compte, tu vois ? 😛 You forgot “voila” as well. It’s one of my pet peeves. Recently saw a Nicole Garcia interview, she must be confusing voila with period marks. I swear I could kill people who do that, if you got nothing to add, you’re entitled to shut the fuck up. _Voila_s vont make your sentence more interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/28 "2011-02-03T08:52:49Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > You forgot “voila” as well. It’s one of my pet peeves. > Recently saw a Nicole Garcia interview, she must be confusing voila with period marks. > I swear I could kill people who do that, if you got nothing to add, you’re entitled to shut the fuck up. _Voila_s vont make your sentence more interesting. You’re right ! And I’m guilty of this one, too. That and “enfin bref” (“finally, in short”), “enfin bon” (“finally, well.”). That said I usually use these not as filler per se, more to signify “that’s all I have to say about this, let’s change subject please”. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/29 "2011-02-03T09:31:06Z")
Arabic _ya‘nī_ - it means ‘It means’. \*Wallāh \*or \*wallāhi \*‘by God’ is another very popular filler. > [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > You forgot “voila” as well. It’s one of my pet peeves. True, but that isn’t half as bad as all the Americans who misuse it while misspelling it “viola!” Why not _viola da gamba_ while they’re at it? ---
**Author:** ![BleizDu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@BleizDu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BleizDu)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/30 "2011-02-03T10:07:58Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Arabic _ya‘nī_ - it means ‘It means’. > \*Wallāh \*or \*wallāhi \*‘by God’ is another very popular filler. > > True, but that isn’t half as bad as all the Americans who misuse it while misspelling it “viola!” > Why not _viola da gamba_ while they’re at it? And then it always registers in my mind as a mangled version or “viole la!” (rape her!) :smack: I try hard to avoid fillers in my speech, mais voila quoi, ça vient tout seul! I can’t help it, my sentences have a mind of their own 😛 ---
**Author:** ![udlander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/43a26b/32.png) [@udlander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/udlander)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/31 "2011-02-03T10:10:17Z")
My eldest drives me mad with her liberal sprinkling of ‘ikke’ (literally ‘not’ but perhaps closer in feel to the English slang ‘innit’), usually shortened somewhat to just ik’. It seems to be a feature of Danish youth speech patterns, at least in our area and her age (10-12). The older ones seem to replace it with ‘fuck’ as far as I can tell :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/32 "2011-02-03T12:18:43Z")
> [@BleizDu](#): > > And then it always registers in my mind as a mangled version or “viole la!” (rape her!) :smack: > > I try hard to avoid fillers in my speech, mais voila quoi, ça vient tout seul! I can’t help it, my sentences have a mind of their own 😛 Oh no, not another _wallakwa_. I think I could exterminate you all, especially since you’re the same type that also says “nananana” which is the utterestrest form of filler in French. Cant tell the number of times I’ve recieved instructions where every two words I would get wallakwa, and then, as if it wasnt murky enough (because in truth wallakwa means “I wont even bother of making the effort of trying to make a sentence. _You_ fill out the blanks”) it usually then ends with nananana. Which is the same, but in much worse. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/33 "2011-02-03T16:24:23Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > Arabs and other middle eastern and south asian languages use “yani” So he has a following there, does he?: [Yanni - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yanni) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/34 "2011-02-03T16:37:39Z")
> [@Geek\_Mecha](#): > > “Da kine” is not a filler, it’s a placeholder for a noun or verb. Bengali also has a placeholder word – _iye_, pronounced a little like “yeah.” There are some people who habitually use it – “Uh, why don’t you go find _iye_ and ask him to give you _iye_ so you can get _iye_ done before it gets dark?” You could translate it as “Uh why don’t you go find _that guy_ and ask him to give you _that thing_ so you can get _that task_ done before it gets dark?” > [@Rigamarole](#): > > Really? The only thing I retain when I hear someone saying “like” constantly is a passionate desire to wallop them over the head with a frying pan. I think the fact that filler words are so common and so natural, especially for younger speakers, is evidence that it has some kind of utility. I also am irritated by overuse of them, but I suspect that aversion to filler words is learned. You probably didn’t start disliking them (or perhaps even noticing them) until you heard someone pointing them out or objecting to them for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/35 "2011-02-03T17:58:17Z")
Classic Turkish joke on the Americans… the standard American filler “Um” is nice rude Turkish slang for the female genitalia. When I was learning the language, I couldn’t figure out why my host family was breaking on the floor in giggles for weeks with my drawn out “Ummms” while I searching for the right word… until I was mortified to learn it from their (very cute) 19-year old daughter who took pity on me. (Yes I’ve confirmed this with other Americans who got caught this way!) ---
**Author:** ![beartato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@beartato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beartato)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/36 "2011-02-03T18:12:14Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > True, but that isn’t half as bad as all the Americans who misuse it while misspelling it “viola!” I used to see this all over the place on the internet, usually posted by American women: “And then, wah-lah, you’ve got your (insert whatever here)”. It took me forever to figure out this wasn’t some American saying, but instead that it was what they thought “voila” was. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/37 "2011-02-03T21:58:27Z")
Bulgarians say “ami” as filler. It doesn’t really mean anything, though - it’s usually translated as “well”. It is pretty funny when Bulgarians speaking English replace anyplace they’d say “ami” with “well”, though. You get sentences like “you have to tell the students that well that kind of behavior is not well acceptable”. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/38 "2011-02-03T22:34:05Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > Japanese have a zillion examples, both slang and not slang. A lot of it, like all Japanese, is dependent on the relationship between the speaker and the listener. Also, a lot more of it is “female language” which is something to watch out for if you are a guy and your teacher was your Japanese girlfriend or other female. Or if you watch a lot of non-dubbed anime. English speaker + Anime = sound like a schoolgirl. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/39 "2011-02-03T23:45:29Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Ah, “da kine” is Hawaiian for “smurf”! I’m now wondering whether Peyo ever went to Hawaii 🙂 Pidgin Smurf: “Hoo, da da kine wen smurf da cah! You nevah see one more bus’ up BMW! Thank Smurf fo da guardrail!” oh lord. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920/40 "2011-02-04T01:38:04Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > That or _comme_. **Kobal** says _tu vois_, in Quebec it’d usually be _tu sais_ (shortened as _tsé_). > Not more than usual. _Genre_ is usually one syllable long anyway, but the ‘r’ is definitely audible. I spent two years in France 40 years ago and noticed _les jeunes saying tu sais_ (ya know) as fillers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-non-english-speakers-say-like/569920.md?page=3)