In this paper, it is shown émotimots (“emotiwords” and “emotiphrases”) and émotiphrases (“emoticlauses”) (interjection, idioms and set phrases with an interjective undertone) are far from functioning as mere verbal responses in reaction to emotional stimuli. They are described as genuine interactive operators which distribute differentiated cognitive processes among the participants in the conversation, including the speaker herself, reflexively: emotiwords play a key role in the active processing of emotional events as disturbances of the verbal interplay. A series of cases is presented, ranging from verbal reflexes through semi-automatic interpersonal regulation to theatrical-like improvisation, in relation a the scale of formal fluctuations; and the language-specific values of interjection are set against a contrastive background.