how you say

English

Phrase

how you say

1. (nonstandard) Used as a filled pause to imitate a stereotypical non-native English speaker: how do you say it? What is the expression?
   • 1827 April 17, “Mr. Mathews at Home; or, Home Circuit and Cockney Gleanings”, in The Kaleidoscope; or, Literary and Scientific Mirror, volume 7, number 355, Liverpool: E. Smith & Co., page 339:

     Wine Merchant: “What do you think of the sample, Monsieur; fifteen years in bottle, hey, hey?”—Frenchman: “How you say, Sare, fifteen years in bottle; how that it possceble, when instanement that I pop out the cork, out comes one large fly. […]

   • 1950 May, Robert Bloch, “Tell Your Fortune”, in Dorothy McIlwraith, editor, Weird Tales, volume 42, number 4, New York, page 10:

     “I come to thees country to make new life. Rico, he tells me I can do good here. Signor Mosko, I pay him the monies, he weel arrange. Ees no good. I am—how you say?—without help. […]

   • 2017 January 12, Andrew Law, “What's My Motivation” (11:30 from the start), in The Good Place, season 1, episode 11 (television production), spoken by Pillboi (Eugene Cordero), via NBC:

     I am a safe installer here to install-a da safe. So just a-point to where the guacamole money is, and I'll-a install-a the safe-a in da, how you say, a-place?

Anagrams

• how say you