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I learned from a Japanese friend that ふむふむ could be translated like "oh, I got
it", "I see", "I know", or "ok". It could be also in this form: ふむふむ なるほど

But, my sister lived in Japan for 5 years, and she had never heard of it.

Is it still used?
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2011-08-26T03:28:30.813
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usage onomatopoeia
Is「ふむふむ」still used nowadays?
Friends and I quite often use "ふむ" (just once) in electronic communications in
order to show acknowledgement, though with a very slight nuance of reluctance
or thoughtful consideration.

Here's an example from a native Japanese speaker, after hearing about the
context of a quiproquo:

> ふむ。誤解されやすい書き方をしたので間違えて解釈されちゃったんだろう。

Though it's not "I know", it's definitely "OK", "I see" or something like
that.
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2011-08-26T03:43:52.013
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I use ふむ as well. Seldom ふむふむ. I think that's true for many people. I don't
know how to put this well, but basically it sounds a bit.. um.. ridiculous
maybe?  
You see it often in manga.
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2011-08-26T03:52:55.227
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I think Sexy Commando says either "ふむふむ、なるなる..." or"なるふむなるふむ" while reading a
newspaper in one episode. Obviously, this is a humorous use.

BTW, I have a great related oyaji gag: I put out my hand to see if it was
raining. By chance, a bird flew overhead just then and dropped some poop,
which fell into my hand. I looked at it and said ふーーん?
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2011-08-26T15:40:31.357
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A Japanese friend I started talking to two days ago (he's 27) uses ふむふむ with
me when we write to each other. Sorry, I don't remember where in Japan he's
from.
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