Sometimes, I might say ‘Man’, as the precursor to a statement as in this recent example I said to myself after reading something: “Man, to give anything a label will always technically be reductive, and thereby cause assumptions…” or “Man, there are a lot of people here.”
I don’t like using ‘man’ since it sounds too casual to me, and I’ve never used ‘gee’ since it sounds outdated. I sometimes use a ‘Hmm,’, but it sounds pretentious. “Eureka” eureka wouldn’t quite fit the situation here.
To simply omit the exclamation changes the implication of the sentence, indicating it is a fact, rather than something that came from your thoughts.
Right now, my choice of interjection would be a brief “Hnn,”.
Can anyone suggest a nice more ‘scientific’ alternative, maybe something you’ve seen on a show, read an intellectual say, or use yourself?
Side Note: Google’s dictionary (oxford pocket) doesn’t actually list ‘gee’ as a synonym for ‘man’, maybe this should be added.
Answer
Perhaps, the item being looked for was not an alternative interjection, but a form of more effective communication.
When stating something to another person, starting with their name is very effective.
- “Milva, there are a lot of people here today.”
When stating something to yourself, or others, just using body language to indicate you are thinking, like a tilted head, or eyes cast slightly downwards, is less casual than ‘man’.
- /Tilts head 5 degrees/ “There are a lot of people here today.”
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Afez , Answer Author : Afez