I am reading a book in which I see this fragment:
. . . but he has —er— ideas what ideas . . .
What is the meaning of —er— in this sentence?
And what is the — that appears before and after some of those words?
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3It seems to be a sound people make when they hesitate. Also um, umm, eh, well, ...– Damkerng T.Commented Dec 21, 2013 at 15:34
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1english.stackexchange.com/a/80678/28567– user230Commented Dec 21, 2013 at 15:45
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2 Answers
The -er- has the hyphen (-) around it to show the break in the speaker's words. They stop saying anything that has meaning for a moment, but they are thinking about what they will say to continue the thought.
It means they are stuck for the moment, but are going to continue the sentence as soon as they decide what to say next.
Er, like um and ah, is an example of a verbal filler, something which someone who is speaking may reflexively use to keep a continuous stream of noise when a speaker needs to stall for time because he or she is searching for the correct next word. They are a sort of audible indication that while not actually talking, the speaker is not yet finished expressing their thought.
