What is the meaning of "pause for effect"?

[Rain.Angel]

Hi ;-)

I heard the phrase in The Odd Couple show where Felix says: I'll say hi to... pause for effect... Olivia.

Thanks for your time. ;-)

 

[emsr2d2]

It means that someone leaves a pause in what they are saying in the hope that the pause will have some kind of effect on the listener. Without context, it's impossible to know what sort of effect they are hoping for.

 

[Tdol]

I would imagine that there's something surprising about the speaker greeting Olivia.

 

[emsr2d2]

Or perhaps he was leaving the listener in suspense as to which person he had decided to say "Hi" to!