This could be followed by Moment noch or Augenblick noch ‘just a moment’, to
signal that the speaker is asking for a little time to think of the word.See also^118 (pp. 425–7) on asking for linguistic cues.
116.3 The following may be useful when pointing to something or describing something for
which the speaker does not know the exact word:
so ein Ding ‘like that’
so aus*sehen ‘to look like that’
so machen ‘to go like that’
aus*sehen wie ‘to look like’
klingen wie/sich (= acc.) anhören wie ’sound like’(a) General words can be used such as das Ding ‘thing’, die Sache (which usually refers
to a situation or a state of affairs) and der Ort ‘place’. The meaning of ‘like this/like that’
is conveyed in German by so when one can imitate the thing or point to something by
way of explanation. See^74 (pp. 231–40) on ‘Describing people’ and^75 (pp. 241–52) on ‘Describing objects’.
Das war so ein Ding.
It was (a thing) like this (like that).NOTE Das ist so eine Sache as an expression on its own usually means ‘It’s a bit tricky/it’s a
complicated state of affairs’.(b) When describing or imitating the way something looks, so aus*sehen can be used:Es sieht so aus.
It looks like this.(c) When describing the way something moves or sounds, so machen can be used:Es macht so.
It goes like this/does this.Es machte ‘brr brr’
It went ‘brr brr’.Er machte so (mit der Hand).
He went like this (with his hand).116.4 When the speaker is able to compare the thing to something for which he or she knows
the word, wie is used instead of so:
Es sieht aus wie eine kleine Gitarre.
It looks like a small guitar.Alternatively, a relative clause may be used:Das ist das Ding, das man mit einem Hammer schlägt.
It’s the thing you hit with a hammer.See^8 (pp. 11–13) on subordinate clauses.
116
Using fillers