Pet Phrases

Have you ever heard some people use the phrases many often than they are supposed to while having a conversation? Something like “in fact I feel”…”like”...”you know”…”basically”….or much more. Like, I usually am a fan of the phrase “I mean”...i don’t realize how many times I use it while giving a presentation or having a casual chat with my friend. Be it in person or in Facebook, I mean, I am there with the phrase “I mean” and I mean it. I am quite sure you have yours of which some of you may not be conscious of.  Another word i fondly use most of the time is, "of course".

I have this principal, Mr. Lungten Wangdi. In his five minutes of speech to the students, one would reach the counts to more than a score for the usage of the phrase, “in fact”. Like, he would start his speech with the word in fact. “In fact, these days most of you miss the morning prayers which in fact is not a good practice to be in fact followed or tried to. We would now get in fact stricter on the issues. In fact if you are found guilty of such practices, we would in fact punish you severely…” And it would go on and on with the phrase in fact resonating amongst students. Then we have Mr. Karma Dendup, our principal in High School. He would never miss the phrase “in case”, incase this, in case that, in case students, in case we have a full period class…there is no ending in case he is to put a new sentence without his favorite phrase. There are many, many we use commonly every day. Almost like slang, we use these phrases now and then.I have this friend, Nima. He was a very bright student, and in science subjects, this guy always had an upper hand from most of the students. But funny thing about him is that whenever he gives a definition, be it in a class or in an examination, his definition will always start with the phrase, "It is nothing but a...". Sir would scold him to avoid giving answers with that phrase. Atom is nothing but a smallest particle of a matter made out of a nucleus surrounded by electrons.

Lets look at our own phrases in Bhutanese culture. The phrase “sang mage wai semchen bae ni dhi gi (because that I am not enlightened being)” and of course we have also phrases like “maa shi (in fact)” and there are others like “lhag par dhug yang (more over)”  “drowa semchen (sentient beings)”…we use it often than not. Whether one understands what it mean or how to use it, one would most of the time hear these phrases often during dasho’s speech, parliamentary discussion, or even a speech of a student in a school.

I know, most of you by now have not only understood what I am trying to say, but have even gathered few phrases that you use often. So why don't you tell me what’s yours?