Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

"I suppose".....the new "em"?

  • 24-08-2020 11:54am
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 360 ✭✭Barney224


    Listening to the radio over the past 12 months, I can't get over the amount of Irish people saying "I suppose" in interviews. Has this taken over the traditional "em" to break up fluid sentences? Is this just an Irish thing? Or am I just imagining this?


«1

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,140 ✭✭✭Gregor Samsa


    I suppose it has.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 468 ✭✭1990sman


    sorry but using the word "So" tookover the brainfart at least 3 years ago. i blame american social media.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 468 ✭✭1990sman


    glad u noticed this tho. i thought i was alone

    edit - please dont say ur me and and freak me out altogether


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,140 ✭✭✭Gregor Samsa


    1990sman wrote: »
    sorry but using the word "So" tookover the brainfart at least 3 years ago. i blame american social media.

    Isn't starting a sentence with "sorry", when you're not actually making an apology, one of those Americanisms too?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,055 ✭✭✭JohnnyFlash


    Let's move forward and discuss this offline.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 468 ✭✭1990sman


    Isn't starting a sentence with "sorry", when you're not actually making an apology, one of those Americanisms too?


    is it? sh!te i was trying to be polite. i genuinely appreciated the thread as its one of the many social nuances so few notice but i had to somewhat disagree yet support at the same time?


    might there have been a better way to more brittishly express my quandary? i mean i usen't to agree with posture policing but im prepared to stand corrected.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 468 ✭✭1990sman


    so i was actually sorry. meh


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,995 ✭✭✭WesternZulu


    I thought 'lookit' that was the go to phrase these days when starting starting a sentence on radio/tv.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 468 ✭✭1990sman


    I thought 'lookit' that was the go to phrase these days when starting starting a sentence on radio/tv.
    it was but baldies deemed it derogatory and passive aggressive.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,402 ✭✭✭McGinniesta


    I thought 'lookit' that was the go to phrase these days when starting starting a sentence on radio/tv.

    thats gaa players


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 157 ✭✭Randle P. McMurphy


    I've often wondered where 'look' before every sentence originated from. It seemed to come from nowhere and before long you couldn't listen to a tv/radio interview without hearing it

    Is there a linguist on boards who could enlighten us on how these phrases come about and get so ubiquitous?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 164 ✭✭larva


    I get more annoyed when ppl say d'know what I mean after sentence they utter, its like d'know what I mean it somehow backs up what they just said d'know what I mean


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,547 ✭✭✭Agricola


    "You know lookit I suppose the lads knew they had to up their game since the last round and I suppose credit to the lads for lookit you know puttin in a good shift and sure lookit we trained hard since and sure you know it stood to us and I suppose we can look forward to the next game now and you know sure lookit we won't fear anyone at this stage I suppose"


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 164 ✭✭larva


    Agricola wrote: »
    "You know lookit I suppose the lads knew they had to up their game since the last round and I suppose credit to the lads for lookit you know puttin in a good shift and sure lookit we trained hard since and sure you know it stood to us and I suppose we can look forward to the next game now and you know sure lookit we won't fear anyone at this stage I suppose"



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 468 ✭✭1990sman


    and when you boil it down it's all technologies fault, and when you drill down into a deep dive on that and become cogniscent, well it's basically just wheels and walls.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 468 ✭✭1990sman


    let me know if u see a "politician" they are extinct in this land for nearly 100 years.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,275 ✭✭✭Your Face


    If they use the correct adverbs, they will be called posh, snobby etc.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,281 ✭✭✭CrankyHaus


    Your Face wrote: »
    If they use the correct adverbs, they will be called posh, snobby etc.

    "Don't want to upset the appletart" as Bertie put it. I suspect he learned from the example of Haughey that people may resent airs but if you pretend to be a bit of an eejit, and in truth Bertie was anything but, they'll think you have the common touch.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,942 ✭✭✭topper75


    There are a number of these annoying ways to preface an answer.

    "Yeah, no" is my bugbear. Which is it? If you are confused, expect me to be doubly so and doubly disinterested in your opinion as a result.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,858 ✭✭✭Church on Tuesday


    I prefer "em" to "um" every time TBH.


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,975 ✭✭✭pgj2015


    thats gaa players




    Listen is another one.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,995 ✭✭✭Ipso


    I suppose you should lean into it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,874 ✭✭✭Edgware


    I thought 'lookit' that was the go to phrase these days when starting starting a sentence on radio/tv.

    That is only to be used by GAA heads explaining why "de lads" didnt "perform"


  • Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 12,269 Mod ✭✭✭✭Say Your Number


    It literally isn't.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,707 ✭✭✭Bobblehats


    I prefer "em" to "um" every time TBH.

    How about uh?

    Not to be confused with uhuh. And certainly not

    elvis-pigsly

    Uhuhuh...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,858 ✭✭✭Church on Tuesday


    Bobblehats wrote: »
    How about uh?

    Not to be confused with uhuh. And certainly not

    elvis-pigsly

    Uhuhuh...

    Only this man could get away with that



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,131 ✭✭✭✭Thelonious Monk


    that's funny I just noticed this recently too. In the UK the more educated types seem to be peppering sentences with "sort of" at an alarming level. I think "I suppose" is the Irish "sort of".


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,008 ✭✭✭Sorolla


    larva wrote: »
    I get more annoyed when ppl say d'know what I mean after sentence they utter, its like d'know what I mean it somehow backs up what they just said d'know what I mean

    I was in Arigna Coal museum and an former miner was the tour guide - and he was very nice but he had an awful Leitrim/Roscommon accent and at the end of every sentence he asked us

    “do u no wha ay mane”


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,922 ✭✭✭Coillte_Bhoy


    1990sman wrote: »
    sorry but using the word "So" tookover the brainfart at least 3 years ago. i blame american social media.

    Ronan Glynn and one of the other public health people do this all the time


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,439 ✭✭✭tupenny


    People starting sentences with "I mean" , I hate it!!
    And it's not just when speaking, even typing a sentence starting with"I mean" .... aaah!!
    Bring back "I suppose"


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,942 ✭✭✭topper75


    Sorolla wrote: »
    I was in Arigna Coal museum and an former miner was the tour guide - and he was very nice but he had an awful Leitrim/Roscommon accent and at the end of every sentence he asked us

    “do u no wha ay mane”

    I accept your annoyance, but given a choice between a tour of the place by somebody who has walked the walk or some cut-glass vowels elocution lessons girl, I am always choosing the former.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,036 ✭✭✭Ficheall


    Like


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28 mikecope


    Supposing, supposing, three men were frozen; two died, how many were left?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,942 ✭✭✭topper75


    These seemingly thoughtless tics must be in fact some way deliberate. They are used to signal membership of an in-group I think.

    The GAA 'lookit' is obvious.

    I also hear arty and academic types interspersing their mindless musings with 'in a sense' and 'as it were'.

    So ... I suppose ... the poet is eh ... in a sense... saying that the the universe... as it were is ... in a sense... is ... you know... nourishing our souls... as it were.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,184 ✭✭✭riclad


    Some people say like, eg i was like i don,t deserve to get a parking ticket, etc
    i was like why do i need to wear a mask,
    em is not the worst word to use.
    I think different countys have different expressions, or words that appear at random in a sentence .
    the thing the annoys me is people dropping the g ,
    eg i was expectin, i was collectin, eg for some people the letter g does not exist at least when speaking .


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,140 ✭✭✭Gregor Samsa


    riclad wrote: »
    Some people say like, eg i was like i don,t deserve to get a parking ticket, etc
    i was like why do i need to wear a mask,
    em is not the worst word to use.
    I think different countys have different expressions, or words that appear at random in a sentence .

    "like", "look", "I mean", etc are examples of discourse markers, used in every spoken language in the world. They're a natural part of informal, spoken language.

    Sounds such as "um", "eh", etc are filled pauses. Again extremely common amongst speakers of all languages. They allow the speaker to gather their thoughts for the next thing they're about to say, while still continuing to speak. It would be weirder if they were silent pauses.
    riclad wrote: »
    the thing the annoys me is people dropping the g ,
    eg i was expectin, i was collectin, eg for some people the letter g does not exist at least when speaking .

    This is known as G-Dropping, and is common in many English language accents worldwide. Just one example of the many features that different accents have.

    They're all common features of informal speech. As very few people speak perfect standard, formal English all the time, it's odd that people get so hung up on them. If you record yourself talking in a normal setting, you'll see all the strange pauses, half words, ems, ahs, that we all use in everyday speech. But we tend not to notice them when we do them ourselves. If you ever join Toastmasters, or do a training course in public speaking, or even just practice a presentation you have to give by recording yourself, it's a eye-opener.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,438 ✭✭✭✭endacl


    riclad wrote: »
    Some people say like, eg i was like i don,t deserve to get a parking ticket, etc
    i was like why do i need to wear a mask,
    em is not the worst word to use.
    I think different countys have different expressions, or words that appear at random in a sentence .
    the thing the annoys me is people dropping the g ,
    eg i was expectin, i was collectin, eg for some people the letter g does not exist at least when speaking .

    Your posts always remind me of E.E. Cummings :D

    2.png


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,175 ✭✭✭✭Brendan Bendar


    I thought 'lookit' that was the go to phrase these days when starting starting a sentence on radio/tv.

    GAA circles mainly.

    And it’s “I ‘spossse” Not “I Suppose”.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,175 ✭✭✭✭Brendan Bendar


    Ronan Glynn and one of the other public health people do this all the time

    He is not alone......

    Dudes, especially senior civil servants are notorious.

    Heard a guy being interviewed and started EVERY FORHKING SENTENCE with “So”.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 572 ✭✭✭Errashareesh


    I thought I was a language pedant. How do ye notice some of this stuff?!


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,175 ✭✭✭✭Brendan Bendar


    I thought I was a language pedant. How do ye notice some of this stuff?!

    Like, you can’t avoid it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,313 ✭✭✭Ubbquittious


    I've been saying it for years. People are finally catching on, I'm so far ahead of the trend. 'ah fcuk it shur shag it' will be what all the pundits will be saying in 15 years time


  • Posts: 0 CMod ✭✭✭✭ Gerald Hallowed Timer


    Sure lookit I suppose


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,625 ✭✭✭AllForIt


    Ficheall wrote: »
    Like

    That is one I do, and I can't shake it. I heard someone call that a 'tick' but I'm not fully sure what this is except that's what it's called. Some mental thing I suppose.


    edit: 'I suppose' was used in the right context here : )


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 244 ✭✭Pythagorean


    AllForIt wrote: »
    That is one I do, and I can't shake it. I heard someone call that a 'tick' but I'm not fully sure what this is except that's what it's called. Some mental thing I suppose.


    edit: 'I suppose' was used in the right context here : )

    It's a tic, an involuntary action, usually refers to a physical twitch, etc. but can be applied to a verbal repetitive habit, eg saying "like" every few seconds.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,184 ✭✭✭riclad


    The thing that annoys me is í watch a a few youtuber, s and at random times they just say the f word. I listen to gaming podcasts and
    there's a curse word every 5 minutes in some of them. I think there's people who curse so much its almost unconscious. They do, nt say eh they say f word or sh1t at random times
    I.m not a prude. It's just an annoying habit.
    I wish someone would invent an app to remove the f word from podcasts


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 842 ✭✭✭Hego Damask


    Let's move forward and discuss this offline.

    Will touch base ....

    ping me ...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 244 ✭✭Pythagorean


    riclad wrote: »
    The thing that annoys me is í watch a a few youtuber, s and at random times they just say the f word. I listen to gaming podcasts and
    there's a curse word every 5 minutes in some of them. I think there's people who curse so much its almost unconscious. They do, nt say eh they say f word or sh1t at random times
    I.m not a prude. It's just an annoying habit.
    I wish someone would invent an app to remove the f word from podcasts

    Agreed, the widespread and needless use of profanity is coarsening and impoverishing discourse. The F word can have an impact when used strategically and calculated to cause a shock, but when used every few seconds it becomes annoying and stupid, and reflects badly on the person who uses it:mad:


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,281 ✭✭✭CrankyHaus


    Agreed, the widespread and needless use of profanity is coarsening and impoverishing discourse. The F word can have an impact when used strategically and calculated to cause a shock, but when used every few seconds it becomes annoying and stupid, and reflects badly on the person who uses it:mad:

    It's fairly widespread in Ireland though. To the point where some people can't even converse in a business seeing without using profanity as a form of punctuation. I even encountered it with a TD I had to deal with in work.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,184 ✭✭✭riclad


    i think its a bro dude, thing, its like on every gaming podcast theres always one man who just says f word or fffing or sh1t every 5 minutes ,
    its almost funny .EVERY podcast or youtube video i listen to no one says the words critic or criticize, its joe bloggs does nt like like game x.he sh1t on it in his review.
    maybe its a gen z thing.
    you are not cool unless you use the f word or some profanity every few minutes.
    its like the joke,cliche , i,m from the streets man, cool, says the harvard educated son of a millionaire .
    i think all these podcasters are middle class and well educated and they went to university.
    i have no problem with people cursing or using the f word if they are really angry or upset about something.


  • Advertisement
Advertisement