As a linguist suggests:
" There are messages primarily serving to establish, to prolong, or to discontinue communication, to check whether the channel works {" Hello, do you hear me?"}, to attract the attention of the interlocutor or to confirm his continued attention {" Are you listening?" or in Shakespearean diction, "Lend me your ears!"- and on the other end of the wire "Um-hum!"}.
" There are messages primarily serving to establish, to prolong, or to discontinue communication, to check whether the channel works {" Hello, do you hear me?"}, to attract the attention of the interlocutor or to confirm his continued attention {" Are you listening?" or in Shakespearean diction, "Lend me your ears!"- and on the other end of the wire "Um-hum!"}.
( Erving Goffman )
[ Behavior in Public Places ]
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