Following the Shruggage thread, I got to thinking about other non-verbal communication in Dragaera, and the grunt in particular. Several characters use the grunt in quite an expressive manner (Vlad, Kragar, G'aereth, for instance), although in Phoenix Guards the grunt and descriptions thereof are described in what seems to me a humorous manner. As far as I can tell, we're supposed to laugh at how expressive various characters make grunts and/or shrugs. So my issue is this: I actually fail every time I try to imagine how a grunt of assent or any other "expressive" grunt would sound in real life. When I see it used in print, however, the grunt works for me. I understand what is meant by it, and I enjoy the broad range of expression it can have in the different books; I can even imagine a character's facial expression as he performs this utterance. If I try to recreate a grunt in real life, however, it comes off as sounding as some type of respiratory distress. Am I strange? (Yes) Can people actually grunt a positive response? Or a negative one? Jose -- Jose Marquez jhereg69 at earthlink.net