you know

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you know

/juː nəʊ/ UK
/jɪ naː/ Northumbria, UK
/jə naː/ Northumbria, UK
/ju noʊ/ US

Where it comes from

First attested as a filled pause in the early 18th century, as a euphemism in the mid-19th century.

interjection y'know · yunno

informal Expression signifying a pause or hesitation. I don’t usually get nervous in games and, you know, taking free kicks and penalties but that’s the first time I’ve been that nervous in, in a game, where I have to, I’m in a situation where I’m, you know […]
informal Expression used to imply meaning, rather than say it, such as when a person is embarrassed. A: I can’t go to the party because... you know... B: Your mom is still mad at you, huh? A: Yeah...
informal Used as a rhetorical question to confirm agreement, knowing or understanding at the end of a statement. But I guess that's life, you know?
Similar: you see, do you know what I'm saying, you know what I'm saying, right, eh, don't you know
informal Used to introduce information. You know, he's actually pretty nice.
Singapore, Singlish Used as a generic, conversational discourse marker, for casual emphasis. Huh? Because some idiot left the marker wrongly, I have to live with this bad experience for the rest of my life. Tell you ah, do you know how scary it is anot? It's so scary you know, drifting out there in open waters ah, for one whole day!
Similar: know, right, like, er, erm, um
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see you, know.

Translations

Every language

intj expression signifying a pause or hesitation

Español	pues, bueno, entonces, sabes
한국어	있잖아 itjana, 알아 ara
日本語	あの ano, その sono, 分かる wakaru
中文	那个 nèige, 那個 /那个 nèige
Português	você sabe, sabe
Français	tu vois, tu sais
Deutsch	weißt du
Italiano	così, capisci, cioè, tipo, sai
Русский	э́то éto, ка́к его kák jevo
Tiếng Việt	ờ, ừm, ờm
العربية	يَعْنِي yaʕnī

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MLA

"you know." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/you%20know. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

you know. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/you%20know

Chicago

"you know." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/you%20know.

BibTeX

@misc{you_know_2026,
  title = {you know},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/you%20know},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}