Japanese people say the word Ano

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by Espair

Shouldnt you use えっと for that? Maybe both are interchangeable?

They're called aizuchi, and they're quite similar. Like ええと.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz

To my ear, すみません sounds more polite than あの. I like to think of あの as being the English equivalent of "Um."

As in, "Um, can you help me?"
あの〜、手伝ってくれないの？

I don't think you'd hear
あの、手伝っていただけないでしょうか。

Probably true, but I have loudly said あの〜 at local shops when the shopkeeper is in the back, so in that case it is more like an attention getter than it is aizushi.