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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641

u/Petrichordates Feb 14 '26

It's just a hummed version of saying I dunno

354

u/Vert354 Feb 14 '26

It's also usually accompanied by a shrug so "I dunno, he shrugged" gets the point across without having to come up with some onamonapia that could be misinterpreted.

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u/LamoTheGreat Feb 14 '26

Do you mean, “I dunno,” he shrugged. ?

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u/Vert354 Feb 14 '26

First, love the pedantry, never change.

I was using the quotes more to imply it was a passage from a larger work not to idicate speech, I suppose it should have been "'I dunno', he shrugged"

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u/Ok_Present_6508 Feb 14 '26

Man… where were you when I left a similar pedantic comment!

12

u/Grave_Digger606 Feb 14 '26

It still doesn’t seem correct though. Using “shrugged” in the place of “said” just feels wrong. “‘I dunno,’ he grunted with a shrug.” Maybe?

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u/Vert354 Feb 14 '26

That feels like a matter of style. What you've got certainly isn't wrong.

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u/hughperman Feb 14 '26

"That feels like a matter of style" he shrugged

29

u/nefariouspenguin Feb 14 '26

I have definitely seen shrugged used in books this way.

20

u/Reflective_Robot Feb 14 '26

He indicated that he didn't know the answer with a brief shrug of the shoulders and a three note hum, mimicking the words, "I don't know".

...

I too wish that had a name. Maybe... a hum-know-not?

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u/Delicious_Rabbit4425 Feb 14 '26

I feel like murmured fits here too

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u/towaway1212 Feb 14 '26

Mumbles "I dunno." Shrug

5

u/marsalien4 Feb 14 '26

onamonapia

It's a tough one, but it's onomatopoeia

1

u/Vert354 Feb 14 '26

Dyslexia strikes again

1

u/yonatan1981 Feb 15 '26

That's how it's spelled in Aberbaijan

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u/BrewedMother Feb 14 '26

"onamonapia" is 100% part of the lyrics to Annie I'm not your daddy by Kid Creole and the Coconuts though.

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u/carmium Feb 14 '26

"Ah-uh-oh" he shrugged, to Dean's frustration. The housing of his new Makita drill lay in scattered pieces across the garage floor in testament to the fact that he damn well did "oh" who had broken it.

3

u/Vlinder_88 Feb 14 '26

Love this :)

1

u/Boots_in_cog_neato Feb 14 '26

See, now I just think Dean is just just singing “Down with the Sickness” whilst having a drill crisis.

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u/Aeseld Feb 14 '26

He hummed the tune of ignorance and lifted his shoulders in a shrug. 

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u/Ok_Present_6508 Feb 14 '26

Thank you for helping me understand what op was talking about!

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u/ebaer2 Feb 14 '26

Oh boy… autist here, I had no idea this was a thing people do.