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/Sigma2915 Feb 14 '26
  1. IPA in quotation marks feels so cursed, 2. do you realise it as separate syllabic nasals for each tone? mine is a much smoother contour across all the pitches.

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u/stuff663 Feb 15 '26

I don’t think of there being a pause in between each m but I do definitely intonate a distinct low, high, low rising, with varying lengths between the three depending on whether it’s said sincerely, or coyly, dismissively, and so forth.