Russian "Verbal Fillers"?

[Daf]

Kenneth Udat wrote
> For example, in English, we have phrases like
> "You know", "like", "but that's how it goes", "so they say",
> "and so on", "etc", etc.
Well, bed|, is certainly one that springs to mind. It seems to fill the
place of 'you know'  'you see' and 'after all'.
fe doesn't really translate but is a kind of exaggerator, adding emphasis.
bnr means French voila / voici [English 'here /there is but not with
spatial idea of here / there]. Outside of this prosaic use, however, this
word in the mouth of a Russian can have a multitude of meanings depending
on intonation. I once watched a squad of Red Army soldiers rehearsing for
one of those May Day parades where they would march about in formation and
end up raising banners that made Lenin's face or some other picture. They
had only sticks for the practice and a sergeant major [or equivalent]
giving orders over a loud speaker from the Winter Palace. What drew me was
my curiosity about him as English drill sergeants bellow unintelligible
words at such volume that one fears for their tonsils, whereas this man was
speaking quite conversationally. He had to give lots of small precise
instructions rather like choreography and they were all interspersed with
bnr. This seemed to mean, 'That's right' , 'Careful' ,'Good' , 'Take it
easy'. 'Well done boys,' almost anything he might need to keep them going
as he wished. It was quite amazing and when I recall the scene I can still
hear him and all the varied bnrs.
Daf  [web page-http://www.meirionnydd.force9.co.uk]