"Ete"? What does it mean?

Question

Hola a todos

I noticed that whenever I'm watching Spanish speakers get ready to explain something or talk in a court case or a talk show, they start off their sentence with "Ete..." holding the 'e' at the end for a while before they gather their words. What does this mean? Is this supposed to be the Spanish equivalent of "umm"? Is this a regional thing? I believe it has been mostly Cubans I hear using this.

I know there's not much to make of it, but it's just been bugging me.

Gracias.

Answer 1

E'te is really "este." Many speakers drop the "s."

It's just a filler like "uh" "um" "that is, uh" and so forth.

Thank you so much. This has been bothering me for weeks - cmusba, Jun 3, 2016