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Ch'an

[ chahn ]

/ tʃɑn /

noun Chinese.

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What Is An “Interrupter”?What’s an interrupter? Interrupters—like this little guy right here—are squeezing into more and more contemporary writing. They’re often the goofy/sarcastic “wink-wink-nudge-nudge” asides writers play with in nonacademic writing and online content. Also called insertions, interrupting phrases, or parenthetical expressions, interrupters are words, phrases, or clauses that break the flow of writing—because if the author feels like it, why not?—to offer additional, can’t-be-held-back, or spur-of-the-moment thoughts …

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019