Hmmm...

What do people mean by 'hmmm..' in chat?
I've got in several conversations with people who just reply with 'hmmm'.
They usually follow a similar pattern. I am approached by someone who starts the conversation. They start asking questions like 'what are you doing here?' and just reply 'hmmm..' to my explanation. It seems that it's mostly men that 'hmmm', although I daresay women do it too. To me it implies that they think I'm up to no good, although I might just be standing looking at a building or something. Hmmmm...

It's a thinking line I guess.

hmmmm as in, "need to think for a bit, BRB" with the usual amount of smilies involved.

When following a conversation, but don't wish to interject, I may say 'aha' just to indicate that I am indeed listening ...

I generally use 'hmmm' when I have a negative or suspicious feeling ... (about the topic, not the talker).

That's how I use it, or if the statement/question made is garbled English which nearly makes sense, which happens often.

Ah! So they say 'hmm' where I, being of British origin, would say 'ah!' or 'oh!'

using it that way some times, but mainly as a sort of pause as in "not entirely sure" or "sort of interresting" and a whole bunch of nice "what ever", wich a friend said i used to do alot to make other people rethink what they said

hmm heh

From me...

hmm: Neutral consideration. Sign I might have to disagree.

mhmm: Positive listening. Sign of agreement.

mmmmmmh: Expression of pleasure.

I can see it might get confusing.

"ahh" is what I say when I don't know exactly how to respond to something said to me

them: "In RL I have 3 wives and 15 kids"
me: "ahh"

"hmmm" is what I say when I hear you but don't know if I believe you

"kk" is ok (sorry old habit lol)

"OMG WTF LAG" is pretty much what I say all the time

Originally, "hmm" is the sound it would make, if one would think out loud. (you know, the thinker statue? that kind of sound)
It's a neutral kind of sound..
the wheels running inside the mind, kind of thing (cartoonish).

The longer the mmmmmmm, the deeper one needs to think.


I use it that way, so does my friends and gf.
It originated from the old IRC (internet Relay Chat) times. early 90ties.

I don't have lot of guy friends most are female but I have noticed few have used that term.
Or all sudden will type "???" or some other thing that seems more like command other then polite
"hello, would you like company?"
Instead I have a few of them bark "Come to such and such" in middle of whatever I am focused on suddenly in instant messaging without asking me if I was busy. And there is sudden which is often after long distracted silence from me they will im, "HMMM" like what I am suppose to do with that other then just politely tell to leave me alone I am busy?
I assume they do it when I am distracted and they aren't being center of attention because
they are some females who must be center of attention regardless of whatever else might
be going on with what I am doing.
I adore my friends but sometimes I go through periods I just want to be left alone especially when I am wanting to focus on specific things.
So while I might like or care about them as human beings, but when I am distracted, busy or just don't want to talk I must confess I don't care why they say hmm...if they don't
want to use words like I am bored, I want your attention or why aren't you talking to me?
I probably going to ignore their hmmm...
And they may end up deleted off my friend list after period of time.
Just my two cents.
I don't care why they say "Hmmm" I just wish they do it elsewhere when I am feeling quiet
and not want to read ims where its ?? or Hmmm, because it just distracting me from what
I am doing which often a whole lot more important at the time.
It is just annoying.

being British I say 'ah' in response to a query

"Ahh that's what you meant" (when i really should have guessed)

"Ahhhhhhhhh!!!" (when I think, "well why didn't you say that?"

Hmmmm!

It is even more annoying when you're doing something very intensely and
out of no where a friend instant messages you out of blue
"Hmmm"
And you have to take your mind away from whatever you're focused on to see it.

I do fully understand FD I build 80% of my time in SL, so for being so anti-social sometimes I allow myself to be interrupted by friends, however if I'm really wanting to get something done I just tell them what I'm doing and that I really need to work on it.

Werid irony when I am cranky and tired and just want to focus on creating,
listening to music and meditating everyone wants to talk but
when I am sitting by myself, want the company no one is online or available.
LOL
Why does that happen? And simple "HMM" at wrong time I want to hit mute button
everyone.

It's that age old coincidence/perception thing, you go for years without having seen Andy Warhol's Campbells Soup Can and then one day someone says "what do you think about Andy Warhol's Campbells Soup Can" and all of a sudden you see it everywhere.

For me, hmmm means I have no clue what to say and am buying time until I can reboot the brain.

If I have to think, I say, "Let me think a moment."

But in spoken language, hmmm tends to be just a slot filler for actual words. It gives the appearance of thinking

You missed "mmmmppphhh!"

I thought it usually meant they were cybering in IM and just typed in the wrong window.

Pap (Can't think of another good reason not to type English unless you are role playing being pretty dumb)

no, that's MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

That would mean "Someone has just clamped their hand over my mouth".

A reason - maybe not a good one - is that I'm mimicking speech patterns. It's not exactly new: thousands of authors have done it in prose. Some of them were quite clever people.

Too much consistency in cyber suggests a lack of passion.

Pep (Not yet found a cyberbot, but lots of escorts that can't type in chat yet are letter perfect in action)

Some of the authors might have been clever; nevertheless, they were usually portraying characters unable to express themselves.

Pep (Prefers not to play dumb)

Also, I've discovered that women from certain EU countries type "Hmmmmm" instead of "Mmmmmm". It can be at little off putting at first in certain intimate moments *grin*