# Verbal crutches in other than American English

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-crutches-in-other-than-american-english/765065>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 4, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-crutches-in-other-than-american-english/765065 "2016-09-04T22:34:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-crutches-in-other-than-american-english/765065/41 "2016-09-08T23:52:50Z")

</div>

I watch a lot of sports on TV. One thing that irritates me is near rhetorical dialog between commentators and analysts that is answered with “Absolutely”.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-crutches-in-other-than-american-english/765065/42 "2016-09-09T02:47:38Z")

</div>

> [@Colibri](#):
>
> _Pues_ is a very stereotypical filler from almost anyone here in Panama, so much it is often made fun of. I hear _o sea_ and _este_ often as well.

Yep, my wife is originally from Panama, and says _“esta bien pues”_ innumerable times in a single conversation when speaking with friends or family.

For those unfamiliar, ‘pues’ is pronounced “pwess” not “pyooz”

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-crutches-in-other-than-american-english/765065/43 "2016-09-09T04:59:20Z")

</div>

> [@UncleRojelio](#):
>
> I’ve been watching the second season of Narcos. Now I know just enough Spanish to spot a few differences between what the actors are saying and what the English subtitles say. Several of the characters in the series use the Spanish word ‘cierto’ as filler but the translation is hardly ever in the subtitles.

Bet it’s a _morcilla_\*… how do you say “morcilla” in English? Anyway, very often the subtitles are written directly from the script, not from what people actually say; it’s highly likely that the script did not include the _ciertos_ or any kind of “I follow you” noises (_cierto_ is also used as one of those) and that those were added by the actors.

- A change by an actor done to localize the lines: in this case, to make the character sound natural where saying the lines as written would sound way too terse to a Spanish-speaking audience. Think making a joke about Chicagoans in Detroit and subbing it for one about Detroit when you’re in Chicago. It’s a type of improvisation, my question is if you guys know a word or expression for this specific type.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MickNickMaggies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/59ef9b/32.png) [@MickNickMaggies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MickNickMaggies)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-crutches-in-other-than-american-english/765065/44 "2016-09-09T12:13:53Z")

</div>

‘Alors’- well. ‘Alors, esseyez’ - ‘Well, try!’  
‘Ben’- ‘uh’, as in ‘Ben Oui’ or ‘uh, yes’  
‘Patati patata’- bla, bla, bla

All from my time in Alsace, the first of which would happen when I’d explain my French wasn’t that great.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/verbal-crutches-in-other-than-american-english/765065.md?page=2)