What to say when you don't understand...

rascal

rascal

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(Mod edit: new post. KKA)
Herbaceous said:
My accent is very much generic North American. I’ve even been told in the past that there’s a bit of upstate New York in my accent (I suppose it comes from living close to the area).

I definitely lack the stereotypical “Canadian” accent you see on TV (most often when we are being made fun of) which I believe is some sort of weird version of a Newfoundland accent (very regional).

I’ve been mistaken for an American before on a distillery tour in Scotland - when my group informed the guide that we were, in fact, Canadian, the poor guy felt so terrible and gave us extra drams!

I was on a call a couple weeks ago with a couple people from the States, and when I was confirming the price of something, I said “and that’s US dollars, eh?”. They were both absolutely tickled pink that the Canadian had used “eh” - I was confused for a moment because I hadn’t even realized I’d used it, it’s such a normal part of speech for me!
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We say "eh" here a lot. Habit but a bit rude?

Russ
 
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rascal said:
My mum.used to scold me if I used it.
And putting our elbows on the table.

Russ
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I knew about the elbows on the table thing, and napkins in your lap, say please and thank you, etc. that kinda thing. I don't think we ever said "eh" but I don't see anything wrong with it.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
I knew about the elbows on the table thing, and napkins in your lap, say please and thank you, etc. that kinda thing. I don't think we ever said "eh" but I don't see anything wrong with it.
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My daughter has her son say either pardon or what did you say??
My grandfather was a grumpy guy that made us eat everything on our plates . Mum explained why, 4 years in a p.o.w camp in poland. I think I ate everything when my grandparents were at our table.

Russ
 
rascal said:
My daughter has her son say either pardon or what did you say??
My grandfather was a grumpy guy that made us eat everything on our plates . Mum explained why, 4 years in a p.o.w camp in poland. I think I ate everything when my grandparents were at our table.

Russ
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Ah, I see. I wasn't sure what context it was being used. So it was like, "Eh" in which you didn't understand what someone said. That would probabl happen to me a lot of I visited NZ!

That's terribly sad about your Grandpa being in the POW camp. I'm sure I would be far less picky too and would probably not waste a bit of food on my plate. I am pretty good about not giving myself more than I can eat anyway.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
Ah, I see. I wasn't sure what context it was being used. So it was like, "Eh" in which you didn't understand what someone said. That would probabl happen to me a lot of I visited NZ!

That's terribly sad about your Grandpa being in the POW camp. I'm sure I would be far less picky too and would probably not waste a bit of food on my plate. I am pretty good about not giving myself more than I can eat anyway.
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I think my granddad quietly instilled in me eat everything on my plate. I have contacted a group who do tours of the pow camps. If I go back to Europe I will prolly go have a look. He died on my birthday.

Russ
 
London /South east slang would include "do what? " and "come again? "
as in :
Went down the frog in me jack the rippers, took a tumble and broke me bacon.
"Eh? Do what? come again?"
:laugh:
 
Yeah, If "eh" is used as "sorry, what did you say", then I would consider it a bit rude.
Here it is used at the end of a sentence, sort of making a statement into a question
 
I’d say here it’s more ignorant than rude but perhaps yes it’s also impolite.

We’re more likely to say “Sorry” as in “Sorry I didn’t catch that?” (which is my go to) than pardon round here.
“Pardon” has slid more into meaning “I beg your pardon?” as retort to someone saying something that’s not liked, something on the wrong side of polite.
As if saying “WHAT DID YOU SAY?!” It’s a challenge to repeat something that’s been taken as being rude or over the line.

Edit: “Pardon me” however is considered more polite than “Excuse me” when you approach someone you don’t know to ask them something.
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
I’d say here it’s more ignorant than rude but perhaps yes it’s also impolite.

We’re more likely to say “Sorry” as in “Sorry I didn’t catch that?” (which is my go to) than pardon round here.
“Pardon” has slid more into meaning “I beg your pardon?” as retort to someone saying something that’s not liked, something on the wrong side of polite.
As if saying “WHAT DID YOU SAY?!” It’s a challenge to repeat something that’s been taken as being rude or over the line.

Edit: “Pardon me” however is considered more polite than “Excuse me” when you approach someone you don’t know to ask them something.
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Here, rude is to say, "What?" My DH does that all the time (with me) and it's annoying. He doesn't do it to other people thankfully (except maybe his children).

I've always tended to say, "Excuse me? I didn't catch that" or similar, even though I would not blink an eye at "eh'...I think of much older men (80+) using terms like that (sorry Russ, not meaning you since you are only late 60s).
 
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JAS_OH1 said:
Here, rude is to say, "What?" My DH does that all the time (with me) and it's annoying. He doesn't do it to other people thankfully (except maybe his children).

I've always tended to say, "Excuse me? I didn't catch that" or similar, even though I would not blink an eye at "eh'...I think of much older men (80+) using terms like that (sorry Russ, not meaning you).
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Excuse me is a common way to approach others here but if you said excuse me to mean pardon? Then it would have the same inferred “What did you just say?!!” thing as “I beg your pardon”
 
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