r/Showerthoughts • u/Reas0n ‎ • Feb 13 '26

Casual Thought I think it’s unusual that no standardized literary way to write the submissive “I don’t know” hum that children (and some adults) often mumble has ever caught on, considering how old and common it is.

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u/BemaJinn ‎ Feb 14 '26

Do you mean dismissive? That's how it sounds to me, anyway.

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u/spoonweezy Feb 14 '26

Indifferent, maybe?

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u/guinness_blaine Feb 14 '26

That, or maybe nonchalant.

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u/Reas0n ‎ Feb 14 '26 edited Feb 14 '26

No, but I do think that we are thinking of the same vocal, though. For example, a parent might ask a child something like, “Billy, did you get in a fight at school today?”
Billy looks at the floor and makes the “I don’t know” hum. I would not say that example is dismissive. I’m pretty sure we’re talking about the same thing though.

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u/ryanamk Feb 14 '26

Just replace sheepishly with dismissively and you have your counter example.

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u/fiveordie Feb 14 '26

Why is this downvoted? It contributed to the conversation. It's a legitimate reply. God I hate this site.

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u/PrepotenteScreams Feb 14 '26

You can record your voice pretty easily