now now
51
9.2
- idiom
- Informal
:
tranquilo
- Now, now, my friend.
- now now, listen
- now now, wait
- now now, let's go
All right, Anyway, now, now keep this in mind as well.
- All right, Anyway, now, now keep this in mind as well.
Examples
-
"Now, now, boys, we can't have you fighting down here.
Fiction book (1993) -
Oh, now, now can I have it?
-
Now, now, listen to me.
-
Now, now, just a moment.
-
"Relax... now, now...," she said, soothing me.
Fiction book (1995) -
Now, now, don't you fret yourself.
-
Now now, calm down.
-
Now, now, let's not get too upset about the mistake.
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Please, now, now try to stay calm during the meeting.
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Now, now, there's no need to raise your voice; everything will be fine.
Synonyms
321
8.1
Tell someone to stop doing something annoying
45
7.6
People say it to show impatience or anger
Surface Forms
Morphology
The doubled form builds on the basic meaning of 'now' (attention/immediacy) and repetition commonly signals emphasis or a softened admonition, so there is a clear link to the constituents. However, the specific pragmatic function — a gentle reproach or calming admonition — is a discourse-level use that is not fully predictable from the literal meanings alone, and learners may need exposure to recognize the conventionalized interactional sense.
Etymology
The expression now now comes from the calm voice adults use when they repeat now to calm or gently scold someone. Saying now twice sounds soft and steady, so now now became a gentle way to 'calm down' someone or show mild 'disapproval'.