Was bedeutet “nur” in “wie machst du die nur”?

Question

Die Nudeln sind lecker! Wie machst du die nur?

Was bedeutet nur in diesem Satz?

(In der Regel bedeutet es "only", hier habe ich aber ihre Bedeutung gar nicht verstanden.)

Answer 1

The normal use of "nur" is "only" meaning "not more than". But in the above sentence it has a totally different meaning as Flo excellently explained. I wonder whether we have a term for this kind of adverb use. As I did not know a standard term or found terms that I did not like such as "Füllwörter" I invented a term: Modalitätsanzeiger. In this use "nur" at the end of a question tells something about the emotional state of the speaker, here interest in the answer to this question, interested curiosity and at the same time admiration as c.p. already said.

Answer 2

The "nur" emphasizes admiration of the other person's cooking skills in this case.

It could probably be translated like this:

"These noodles are delicious. Just how do you make them?"