What do I write about when I have no idea what to write about? Huh? Everybody has some sort of idea drawers in their brains, marked good, bad, boring, dangerous, stupid and indifferent.聽 But as a writer what should I do when all those drawers are empty? Huh?聽 Well, actually that鈥檚 not true, the bad idea drawer is filling up really fast as I sit here contemplating my navel and wondering what to write! Huh!
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 What does huh mean? Huh?聽 Is it an expression similar to the Norwegian UFFDA? Huh? Is it a real word? Huh?聽 I looked it up in Merriam Webster鈥檚 Dictionary, and it is indeed a real word pronounced as a grunt, first known to be used in 1608 (not 1607 or 1609, but 1608) Huh! The word is used to express surprise, as in when on the rarest of occasions the husband wins an argument with his wife. I was right huh! Another use is for disbelief as in when the husband finds his way without asking for directions, the wife would say, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe it, you didn鈥檛 need to ask for directions? Huh!鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The dictionary further claims that it is used to express confusion as in 鈥淗onest officer, I didn鈥檛 realize that the speed limit was in kilometres!鈥澛� Huh!聽 Disapproval is another use of the word, as in, No dear, don鈥檛 wear those jeans, they make your butt look bigger, huh! The word can also be used as an inquiry to invite an affirmative reply.聽 It is better to wear these other pants that make your butt look smaller? Huh?聽 I think I got the hang of it now, or what do you think? Huh?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Another expression that initially caused me to smile and shake my head is, 鈥測ou don鈥檛 say!鈥澛� I first heard that expression when we lived in Vancouver in the late 1960s and early 1970s.聽 Whenever I encountered an Englishman, who as a result of my strong accent would wonder as to where I was from, I would reply that I鈥檓 from Norway. He would look at me with an astonished expression and state with his British upper lip accent: you don鈥檛 say!聽 My reply was always 鈥淚 just did!鈥� Huh! And it didn鈥檛 take me long to adopt the famous Canadian end of sentence uttering, eh!
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 No other English speaking country uses this expression.聽 Canadians would say: 鈥淵ou wanna play hockey, eh?鈥澛� Americans would say 鈥渆h, you wanna play hockey?鈥澛� Australians would throw a boomerang and say 鈥渃rickey, we don鈥檛 know how to play hockey, mate!鈥� And New Zealanders would just keep on chasing their sheep.聽 Whereas in Britain they would say, 鈥渏olly good sport, do you care to join us for a game of golf, old chap?鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Then there is a reply to a question that I believe is the same in any language.聽 The positive with the offset negative response, yes (yeah) and no response to a question.聽 The query might be the husband asking the wife if she wants to watch the Edmonton Oilers playing the Toronto Maple Leafs, and she might answer:, 鈥淵eah / no, maybe not!鈥澛� Or the wife might ask the husband to do the vacuuming, and he might answer: 鈥測eah / no, I would but I have to go!鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 However, if the husband asks his wife a question, any question and the answer is 鈥渨hatever!鈥澛� Then he knows that he will be sleeping on the couch that night! Huh!
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 We all have things to ponder every day, and sometimes we struggle to come up with the right answer.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Ole and Lena wanted to go fishing and were camping out by a lake full of trout.聽 Lena woke Ole up very early one morning; in fact it was before dawn so it was still dark.聽 She woke up Ole and said, 鈥淥le look up at the stars and tell me what you see!鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Ole looked up and said, 鈥淚 see a gazillion stars, some of them blinking at us!鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲ell,鈥� said Lena, 鈥渨hat comes to your mind when you see all those stars?鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Ole pondered this for a while and then he said, 鈥淟ena, when I see all those stars, and I believe that some of them are planets that might have life on them, so it is very likely that the planets with life are like earth, and we might be getting some alien visitors one day!鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Lena shook her head, looked sadly at Ole and said, 鈥淥le you idiot, if you can lay there on your back and look at the stars, it means that somebody stole our tent during the night!鈥� Huh!
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Sven was out shopping in the mall when he met his friend Ole walking just outside the jewelry store. Ole noticed that Sven had a small parcel in his hand and it was gift-wrapped.聽 Who is that gift for Sven?" asked Ole.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲ell, now that you've asked," replied Sven, "It's my Lena's birthday tomorrow, and when I asked her this morning what she wanted for her birthday, Lena said, 鈥淥h Sven, I don鈥檛 know, dear, just give me something with lots of diamonds!鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 "So what did you get her?" asked Ole.聽
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Sven smirked and said, "I bought her a deck of cards." Huh!
