It is funny what you will pick up from the air without realizing. It is funny how quickly something foreign can become familiar and viceversa.
In my second week in Beijing I had picked up a new conversational tick. When someone made a statement and I wanted to express that I was on the same page I would say "Ah, ah, ah, ah." Or "Ungh." Where before I would say "Uh-huh." or make some other kind of sound that I can no longer recall.
I remarked on this and CE pointed out that the repetitive sound is a common way to respond in Chinese. "Dey dey dey"( right right right) or "Hao Hao Hao" (good good good) And the "Ungh" grunted response was also quite prevalent. Somehow after a little over a week in which I did not speak to a single Beijinger I had picked this up from the air, the sounds of the streets, the interaction between CE and many a cab driver in navigating about the city.
It is actually still with me like a stubborn bar stamped ink mark from a wild night. I wonder if it will stick or fade with time. Rather how long it will linger. Surely, everything fades with time.
2 comments:
I still say "hella". And it's been about 14 years since that was actually the norm. However I rarely say "totally" and that's been about 18. So you may be stuck with this tick for a good decade at least.
You'll have to call me up an demonstrate "Ungh". This sounds like a negative to me. Or the name of a caveman. ;)
Ten years is a lot of Ah's This sounds not good.
I may not have transcribed it accurately enough. But it does sound cave-ish, for sure.
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