Story of Sathya

We asked 50 people about Hmm and their reactions were hilarious

Hmm…Ummm…Mmmmm…Aw..kk

hmm

Hmm. Well, I am still alright. I sometimes fail to understand why people especially girls use these kinds of chat lingoes. Some say its a kind of obsession. But this can be fun at times you want to avoid someone. ‘k’ would work in such cases. ‘Hmm‘ would do good when someone is irritating you or maybe when someone is telling you something or maybe complimenting you.

‘Ummm!’ and ‘Mmm’ can be used in different contexts. They are very much related to each other. I get pissed off when people use such fillers to express their emotions. I guess messengers have smileys for the same. Maybe some hate it and they stick to this new chat lingo. Now experts have started with their research work.

Let them do their survey, but before that, I thought of conducting a survey. Hmm!! so it would be rather insane to ask any random people. I decided to query a few of my blogger buddies and my other friends I have around 50 interesting souls of which most of them have a common reply. First I decided to catch some female bloggers. So, here is the much-awaited question of the year.

Q) Why do people use words like Hmm, Mmm, and Umm in chats? and here are the reactions.

1.Disha: ’cause it’s boring to type long sentences and people are busy talking to 10 people at a time on chat!

2.Kritika: they show that someone is thinking

3.Urvashi: to show that they r thinkin

4.Rashmi: and that is “they are word fillers” Β 

5.Ajay: coz they hav nothin to say

6.Arun: to express that they r listening

7.Sreya: Coz they can’t type fast ? Okay.

8.Diana : through hmmmm…they perhaps mean that they are thinking

9.Shweta: because they are trying to tell u dat u r very boring…n dey dnt want to talk to u

10.Prachi: because they want to show that they are listening

11.Madhu(Mads) : coz dey dnt hav nethin to say..they lack fluency.

12.Chronicwriter: Hmm…Umm. Mmmm

13.Riya: for expressiong those expressions which dey can’t expess in words or wen they do not find exact word for their feelings

14.Vidhu: Hmm…Ummm..Mmm. kya bataun tujhe ab main iska answer .. padh padh ke mera sense of humour bhi khatm ho chuka hai..probably to cover d awkward gaps in conversations ? where people dnt know how to reply but have to make some acknowledgement of what the other person is talking about????

15.Sona: acknowledging, there are listening..agreeing.. i suppose.

16.Shruti Shane: well..maybe to show that they’re thinking wht to write when they’re on the phone..cz i do that!

17.Suree: thats means they r thinking…or they dont find anything to say at that moment

18.Amal: hehe.. donno πŸ˜›:P y?oh.. πŸ˜‰;)hmm.. coz they are thinking πŸ˜›:P n dont want to other to think that uve gone away πŸ˜‰;)

19.Lillian: coz these r expression ppl use while talking..n they want the same feel while chatting

20.Prats: ask the ones who say :p

21.Ridhima: hmm well its like adding background music to one’s chat :D..P.S “the humming music” inspired by the humming bird;)

22.Americanising Desi: mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm i do cuz i m least interested in the convo πŸ˜›

23.Srivatsan: we get stuck at words sometimes and hmmmmmm fills it! if someone shares his/her sad story,what can u say to console them or make them feel that we’re listening to them?? so hmmm,umm and mmm !

24.Saad: that’s the sound of thinking.. :D.

25.Nushu: haah coz they are bored

26.Amrita: hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

27.Kajal Iyer: Ummm dunno πŸ˜›

28.Arjun: i hate it whn they use it..donno y… they use it maybe whn they are not amused by our reply..!!: awww’s are very artificial… XYZ uses it a lot

29.Thoorika: we play it safe!!! we dont express our opinions blatantly and get into trouble after wards cos of the choice of words! πŸ˜€ Β 

30.Akansha: who the heck said it is only gals… u r getting very gender-biased these days,kid…

31.Dhanya: When you are speechless or overcome with emotions and you dunno how to express it you go hmmm, mmmm, ummm and awwww.

32.Hina Mirza: Thats actually a very good question ste, I never thought about it, although I myself do it very much. πŸ˜› I’ll think about it now :-p

33.Saim: Vocab Deficiency:P

34.Pankhuri: hahahahahahaahah πŸ˜€ Because this is sumthng that the guys will never understand πŸ˜€ iska yeh matlab hua ki ladkey budhu hotey hain aur unhey kuch samaj nahi aata πŸ˜€ Naa comment aur naa hi taunt πŸ˜€ πŸ˜› = Β 

35.Shruti Nair: did someone say indirect attack.. dhuuu!

36.Mayank: i use em when i dont kno wat to say

37.Meow: if there is nothing to talk.. they say hmm.. if they are uninterested they say hmm..if they are tired and lazy to reply they say hmm.. and it depends on the person to whom we are chatting too..if we are chatting with some stalker we say hmm we say hmm to show our uninterestedness ..if we chat with a person who gives juicy gossips.. “mmm” means we are keenly listening rather reading the gossips which they give if its the bf/gf… mmm has different meaning (Soli speaks -> Nice reply sisterStory of SathyaStory of Sathya ) Β 

38.Anchita: to make it more expressive..to fill up spaces

39.Karthik: May be moaning in pleasure?? *Conditions Apply * πŸ˜›

40.Leo: i use it when i’m thoughtful of what the other person has said. Β 

41.More Orangee: when they think….or when they listen…or approve Β 

42.Rohan: because they are outta words+dumb

43.Danica: they r fillers…..wen u dun have proper replies u say tis

44.Esther: “mmmkay” is something that doesn’t annoy me.. Umm is something when someone is thinking… like “Umm I guess so”.. or something like that..the weird thing is when people use HMMMM ..thats when they run out of topics that they start saying hmm for everything grr

45.Meera: To be more expressive. πŸ˜€ hows that?Either they are in the process of thinking. And sitting on the other end u don know what they are doing right? whether they are on or not and stuff like that.so they use it.Or they may use it as something betw yes and no.when they are doubtful.They may also use it in place of some expression since u cannot see each other’s face.You know,it keeps ppl connected.They may also use it in place of some expression since u cannot see each other’s face.You know,it keeps ppl connected.They may also use it when there is nothing else left to say.Like they are bored,busy,or want to end it.

46.Monique: hahaha xD oh my.. hmmm ahhaha i have no idea

47.Anurag: may be they get bored or restless in a chat right hain kya ..jaldi bol :p (Soli speaks -> a crazy engineering soul ..he thinks that he has answered a 5 mk question on his Univ Paper .Story of SathyaStory of Sathya God bless him Story of Sathya ) Β 

48:Rohini:to let others know that they are lost in the desert of thoughts:)

49.Sridhar: aww is used by girls i havent seen a guy do that hmm,umm and mm sound the same to me ..i use hmm when i am either thinking on what he said or agreeing with him like we would say when we speak face to face

50 .Fahi: to express their reaction/response

Well most of them had something in common.Some said that its used for listening while some say its used to express their reactions.But this is different and I can say that these chat lingo’s are going to replace normal words. Where is this leading to?Story of Sathya

Written for Sunday Scribblings

The Solitary Writer
Step right up, it's Ste's show! Join me on my writing journey where I dish out witty tales, thought-provoking poems, and quirky musings on life. I'm a social justice warrior who sneaks in some humor wherever I can. Book, movie, and cultural critiques included. Buckle up, it's gonna be a wild ride!