Erm..I don't think so

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 125309


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "ladyramkin2001" 
<sylviablundell at a...> wrote:
> 
> Magda wrote:
> >I've been on sites where people are claiming that "Erm" is a 
British 
> expression meaning "maybe" but I don't believe it.

Sylvia:
> You are right not to believe it, Magda.  Born and bred in England, 
> and I've never heard it used in that way.  It's more often used to 
> catch a minute to think.  But "I don't think so" is often used in 
> reply to a question so ridiculous that it doesn't deserve serious 
> consideration.We really need a live audio copy to get the tone in 
> which it was spoken.

Geoff: 
Well, as a paid-up member of the English through-and-through club, I 
will use a long "Mmmmm" to indicate "maybe" or "perhaps". But it can 
be used in a number of ways and it's tone can also indicate different 
meanings. I wonder if it's a district thing like dialect. I speak 
with what most people coniider is an educated London area accent but 
was brought up in the north of England until the age of 9.

People often use "er" to catch a moment to think.