Tuesday, 20 August 2013

Phatic

  In linguistics, a phatic expression is one whose only function is to perform a social task, as opposed to conveying information. An example might be the use of 'Eh' at the end of a sentence - "What do think, eh?"
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3 comments:

  1. messymimi20 August 2013 at 21:19

    Does the ubiquitous and annoying "you know" at the end of every phrase also count? If so, is there a way to have it struck from the language?

    Whether it counts as a phatic or not, i'd vote to remove that one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Scriptor Senex21 August 2013 at 05:46

      It certainly does count and I couldn't agree more. It is particularly popular in parts of Liverpool and it makes me cringe.

      Delete
  2. McGregor20 August 2013 at 22:05

    Scriptor,
    That's pretty Canadian, eh.
    Well done!
    McG

    ReplyDelete