How do you spell "unh-uh"?

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NicoleJLeBoeuf

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Boy, that's a fun question. Kinda like, "what's the number for 911?"

Seriously: That wordless, two-syllable grunt of negativity - how do y'all spell it? I tend to write it "unh-uh", but I admit it looks weird, and I've never actually included it in anything I sent out.

The only other possibility I can think of is "uh-uh", but that looks wrong to me. The two syllables aren't pronounced identically, so I don't want to spell them identically.

I suppose there's also "nuh-uh", but that's a different word entirely.

Thoughts?

Edit: Should I upload a sound file somewhere?
 
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NicoleJLeBoeuf

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Y'all are preternaturally quick! I just got finished editing my post and there are two replies already!

I am currently sitting with my writing group doing a group editing workshop, and the question came up. So I said I'd post the question and get back to the group with what came out of that. They were tickled that I had two suggestions from AW to share already.

So, yeah, my writing group says hi. HI!
 
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Bartholomew

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This is something of a non-issue, so if you're fretting about this in your WIP, I think you can breathe a sigh of relief. I knew exactly what you meant when you spelled it "Unh-uh." When spelling outloud a grunt, all that is required is that I understand what sort of grunt it was. :)

I never spell it Unh-uh, myself. I'm in the midwest, and I usually say "Nuh-uh" when I need that sort of grunt. "Unh-uh" has more of a, "Unh-uh, I know you didn't just say that to me, fool" connotation in my neck of the woods.
 

Bufty

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I think all these phonetic grunts should be avoided, or at best used as little as possible.

I feel they invariably mean more to the writer than to the reader.
 
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Sassee

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It depends on the character and what they're responding to. I've heard it and said it both ways. Though "unh-uh" makes me trip... I don't hear the "n" sound in that phrase, ever. Maybe it's written in there to capture that brief "catch" in someone's voice when they say it?
 

IceCreamEmpress

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I'm a partisan of "Uh-huh" (affirmative) and "Nuh-uh" (negative), just because those are pretty readily understandable by native speakers of US English.

"Uh-uh" always confuses me, because I have to figure out from the context whether it's meant to be affirmative or negative; I've seen people use it for both.

"Unh-uh" seems like a reasonably spelling of the negative, though. I knew what you meant right away.


Now, the closed-lipped version is harder to figure out how to spell. The assent is clearly "Mm-hmm", but the negation is...what? "Mm-mmm" looks like someone making the "yummy" noise.
 

Shadow_Ferret

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"Uh-uh" always confuses me, because I have to figure out from the context whether it's meant to be affirmative or negative; I've seen people use it for both.
Not sure how you need context. I can't think of how you'd say "Uh-uh" out loud to make it affirmative.

And I've never said "Nuh-uh." I've always said "Uh-uh."

Oh, and I forgot to add: "uh-oh" to my list above.
 

IceCreamEmpress

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Not sure how you need context. I can't think of how you'd say "Uh-uh" out loud to make it affirmative.

I agree with you, and yet people use it that way. So I don't rely on my common sense about it.
 

Foinah

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I use "un-uh" when I have to. I've seen it written that way in countless books so I assume that's the common spelling. I take that usage as the negative of "uh-huh".
 
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