TIL research suggests "huh?" is a universal syllable. It's used to express confusion in at least 31 different languages, e.g. Icelandic, Dutch, Japanese, Hungarian, Lao, the Aboriginal Australian language Murriny Patha, Cha’palaa (spoken by 3k indigenous Ecuadorians), and of course, English. User Pfeffer_Prinz, in the Today I Learned (TIL) subreddit, 10 Aug 2022
Is “Huh?” a Universal Word? Conversational Infrastructure and the Convergent Evolution of Linguistic Items User koavf, in the Linguistics subreddit, 17 Feb 2022
(+3288) "Huh" is the universal word, say linguists. "Huh" is not innate (other primates don't say it), but the circumstances of its use (needing to quickly and briefly prompt another speaker to repeat herself) are universal, so languages that share no commonalities still converged on thi.... User l_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_l, in the Reddit 7 Years Ago subreddit, 11 Nov 2020
TIL that “huh” is a universal word, existing in almost every language across the world User resolutenickle, in the Today I Learned (TIL) subreddit, 12 May 2020
TIL that ‘Huh?’ is a universal word expressing misunderstanding, found in languages across the globe including: Icelandic, Russian, Spanish, Mandarin, Cha’palaa, Murrinh-Patha, and Lao. User NotASimpleCow, in the Today I Learned (TIL) subreddit, 22 Sep 2018
Is "Huh?" a Universal Word? User adescuentechable, in the Evolution Experiment subreddit, 24 Apr 2016
TIL "Huh" is the universal word, say linguists. "Huh" is not innate (other primates don't say it), but the circumstances of its use (needing to quickly and briefly prompt another speaker to repeat herself) are universal, so languages that share no commonalities still converged on this word. User The_Fry, in the /r/Stuff subreddit, 19 Jun 2015
TIL "Huh" is the universal word, say linguists. "Huh" is not innate (other primates don't say it), but the circumstances of its use (needing to quickly and briefly prompt another speaker to repeat herself) are universal, so languages that share no commonalities still converged on this word. User admin-mod, in the Today I Learned (TIL) subreddit, 18 Jun 2015
TIL "Huh" is the universal word, say linguists. "Huh" is not innate (other primates don't say it), but the circumstances of its use (needing to quickly and briefly prompt another speaker to repeat herself) are universal, so languages that share no commonalities still converged on this word. User admin-mod, in the Today I Learned (TIL) subreddit, 17 Feb 2015
Is “Huh?” a Universal Word? Conversational Infrastructure and the Convergent Evolution of Linguistic Items User Deirbhe, in the TrueReddit subreddit, 10 Nov 2013
"Huh" is the universal word, say linguists. "Huh" is not innate (other primates don't say it), but the circumstances of its use (needing to quickly and briefly prompt another speaker to repeat herself) are universal, so languages that share no commonalities still converged on this word. User worldnewsbot, in the News From Around The World subreddit, 10 Nov 2013
"Huh" is the universal word, say linguists. "Huh" is not innate (other primates don't say it), but the circumstances of its use (needing to quickly and briefly prompt another speaker to repeat herself) are universal, so languages that share no commonalities still converged on this word. User [deleted], in the Reddit Science subreddit, 10 Nov 2013
PLOS ONE: Is “Huh?” a Universal Word? Conversational Infrastructure and the Convergent Evolution of Linguistic Items User antdude, in the The theory and practice of communications - the persuasive arts subreddit, 10 Nov 2013
PLOS ONE: Is “Huh?” a Universal Word? Conversational Infrastructure and the Convergent Evolution of Linguistic Items User antdude, in the Communication — The practice of talking with others :) subreddit, 10 Nov 2013