Pus/Pos/Pues?

Question

Are these all the same? I read a children's book and I saw both "pus" and "pos"; it seemed like they were being used similarly to "pues". Is this simply childlike talk (i.e., mispronunciations)? Are they actually acceptable in conversation? Or do they have some other meaning? Thanks in advance.

Examples of usage from book "Natacha" by Luis María Pescetti:

Ejemplo #1 --

Niña 1: ¿Y por qué se movería la pata si el monstruo está muerto?

Niña 2: Pus, porque a lo mejor la pata se mueve porque dice, Ey, yo todaviá sirvo, no estoy muerta, pónganme en otro monstruo.

Ejemplo #2 --

Niña 1: ¿O sea que las cosas que no piensan no se pueden asustar?

Niña 2: Pos no.

Por cierto, "pues" también se usa en el libro.

Answer 1

It's just a matter of lazy pronunciation and is not limited to only children. Correctly, it should always be Pues. (Poo-és)

Answer 2

They are distortions of the conjunction "pues" used in diferent Latin American countries... in Chile we use "po" but it is only used at the end of the sentence denoting emphasis.

Cheers Jaime

Answer 3

I have heard all of those reductions of "pues", and in Chile I heard "po,'" as in, Si, po' all the time.

Answer 4

I agree that they are all variations of "pues." In Mexico, or at least in Mexican-American communities, a lot of folks use "pos." It may not be the "correct" usage, but that's for the language purists to argue about.