Why do we say “huh” as if we did not hear what the other person said, but it gets processed 2 seconds later?

Question

Why do we say “huh” as if we did not hear what the other person said, but it gets processed 2 seconds later?

In: Biology

Answer 1

To give you more time to formulate the next thing to say.

Same reason people say ‘errrrm’ a lot while speaking. It opens up thinking time, while still letting the other person know what you’re not done speaking, and preventing them from using the silence to talk before you’ve finished your point.
The ‘huh?’ is almost opposite to that, by making the other person fill the void so you don’t need to.