этот самый...

[upthera44.livejournal.com]

Along the same lines as my last post about "собственно" as a filler phrase or "slovo-parazit", where does this new fashion for "этот самый" come from? It is used when someone is trying to think of the name of something and makes a pause. I've noticed also it tends to be used among cultured circles, as if it's the intelligentsia's version of "типо" or "как бы"... Just curious if anyone has any thoughts about this latest phenomenon (how it works etymologically, why it came about, who uses it and when, etc.). Thanks!

Comments

[trilbyhat.livejournal.com]

Этот самый is no new fashion, it is at least 50 years old. Or simply Этот. Ну что ты плюешься на пол, как этот? There even was some character in some school novel in the 60-s, who used this 'как этот' quasi-comparison as a signature expression.

[trilbyhat.livejournal.com]

I mean, the expresion itself means "this one, /what's the name?/" - as if the speaker forgot the world rather than never knew what he was going to say in the first place.

[trilbyhat.livejournal.com]

I forgot the title of the novel and the name of the character. So I could say: "Ну, этот самый..."

[mithrilian.livejournal.com]

not new at all.

[upthera44.livejournal.com]

Ok, but isn't it becoming more fashionable? I never noticed it much on previous travels in Russia, but last summer heard it constantly*

[makeme-moo.livejournal.com]

My partner and his family tend to use это самое instead. He says he picked it up from his mom and she's used it for as long as he can remember.
I'm not sure I followed his specific reasoning behind it, but этот самый would be used for masculine things or referring to a person? Whereas это самое sounds more general, I guess?

[r-w.livejournal.com]

I'd say that "этот самый" is used when someone is trying to think of someone's name:
К нам пришёл... этот самый... Петров. =
К нам пришёл... как его?.. Петров.

But the filler phrase is rather "это самое":
Я тогда... это самое... проспал.

I do believe that in this filler phrase "это" is the most abstract pronoun which is able to replace any word, noun or verb; while "самое" is just an intensifying particle which can be omitted:
Я тогда... это... проспал.

[surkova.livejournal.com]

I'd say that I use "этот самый" where in English I'd say "what was his name…" or "what it's called" as a phrase filler. Nothing specific about cultured circles where it is used I think.