Is there a term for "*cough**cough*"?

Question

What I mean is the act of "coughing" something that you don't actually want to (or rather dare) say outright. So instead of writing, say, "Miss Parker", you'd write "*cough*Ms Parker*cough*" or fake a cough that sounds very much like "Miss Parker".

Written and spoken differ in that of course, when written is absolutely clear what that "coughed" term is, while when spoken it's "hidden" in the cough (which the written form tries to express).

Never heard it in conversation, only heard it in movies or read it in books, though my contact to actual English native-speakers is (sadly) limited.

Is there a linguistic/rhetorical term for that?

Not sure what you'd called it, but it does get used frequently in conversations among friends, especially youngsters. — Brian Knoblauch, Jan 12 '11 at 18:43
@Brian thanks! This was my second question, but I wanted to keep it to one only. Thanks for answering it anyway ;-) — Jürgen A. Erhard, Jan 12 '11 at 18:47
I guess in the spirit of this question, you could call it an 'outerjection' or an 'outfixation' :) (Did that question inspire this one?) — Benjol, Jan 12 '11 at 19:39
@Benjol if it was, then it wasn't a conscious inspiration. :) — Jürgen A. Erhard, Jan 12 '11 at 19:47
TV Tropes just calls it http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CoughSnarkCough. — Mechanical snail, May 27 '12 at 01:44

score 8 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 12 '11 at 16:30

8

The best I can come up with is the idiom to say something under your breath.

Closely related words which may cover this are to mutter, mumble or mussitate.

answered Jan 12 '11 at 16:30

ghoppe

14,419

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 12 '11 at 19:16

8

Although I haven't focus grouped it, "cough" as a verb of saying sounds OK to me and expresses the desired meaning. As in

"I crashed your truck," the porter coughed.

or

She coughed the words "thirty seconds," in response to her mother's demand to know how long she had spent considering her options.

answered Jan 12 '11 at 19:16

WAF

2,631

Accepted, even though those examples are not totally what I have in mind. But "cough" as a verb works nicely. – Jürgen A. Erhard Jan 17 '11 at 00:19

score 6 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 06 '11 at 05:39

It's a parenthetical comment, demarcated with a pair of "ahem," rather than the usual parenthesis (as this comment is), or by commas, as this one is, marking the parenthetical comment.

The use of "cough" as opposed to "ahem" seems to be fairly modern, but ahem is an onomatopoeia (a word that replicates or nearly replicates a sound that it represents) for throat clearing.

Similar parenthetical onmatopoeia include "sigh," "whimper," "moan," "groan," and "ah." Frank Herbert used "Ahhmmm" for the character of Count Hasimir Fenring in his dune novels, occasionally as parenthetical markers.

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 12 '11 at 17:04

4

This can be called a hem, and is often written as ahem.

I'm not sure this covers the case where the speaker actually coughs over a word.

answered Jan 12 '11 at 17:04

Jay

3,572

2

I don't think ahem covers coughing. The two links you provided only refer to throat-clearing. – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇 Jan 12 '11 at 19:06
@Mr Please check the second link again. – Jay Jan 12 '11 at 19:42
2

Speaking of throat-clears, I suppose it would not be off-topic to make mention of the following satirical article: http://specgram.com/CLXVIII.1/04.caws-elwitt.review.html – Mike Jones Sep 24 '15 at 21:05

Is there a term for "*cough**cough*"?

4 Answers4