# Annoying new trend in speech- a question or is it not a question? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 2, 2007, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-new-trend-in-speech-a-question-or-is-it-not-a-question/402445 "2007-05-02T12:11:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-new-trend-in-speech-a-question-or-is-it-not-a-question/402445/1 "2007-05-02T12:11:05Z")
I work in a bank’s call centre. I have a very particular role. I can only help my cutomers in my field of knowledge. I cannot give any financial advice.(People need special training and government certificates to tell a customer what the best account for them is). The problem I am having is that I am encountering many people are asking me questions but with no question intonation, and not forming the sentence in a sentence form. I will try to explain. An example- customer asks me about their account and about its fees. I explain about their account and fees. Customer then says " That account I have is not the best for me to have." (with completely flat intonation). I say “Uh,okay…Sorry are you asking me a question or making a statement?” Customer says they are asking a question. I have to tell them I cannot give any financial advice and I would be happy to put them through to a financial advisor. It is not a major problem. Just a strange way of speaking that I have noticed in about 10 customers per day. It is as if they never learnt how to ask a question. I thought it was just me having this problem. But today I asked a few people at work and they were having the same problem. One guy said this problem started in the USA. I said I had never heard that before. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-new-trend-in-speech-a-question-or-is-it-not-a-question/402445/2 "2007-05-02T12:22:19Z")
Honestly, I haven’t run across this problem in person, but I also surround myself with people who have at least a vague idea of how an interrogatory sentence is formed. No, wait; I think I have run across two or three people at some point in time who think asking a question is comprised of giving declarative statements with the same sort of tone as the “question” in the OP. Essentially, they may have been taught (subliminally or otherwise) that getting things done requires telling someone that something is “wrong” or “needs to be fixed” in the most vague way possible. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-new-trend-in-speech-a-question-or-is-it-not-a-question/402445/3 "2007-05-02T13:17:16Z")
I run across this from time to time as well. I think it’s just that some people, especially when they’re feeling shy, don’t use enough inflection in their speech. You example, “That account I have is not the best for me to have,” could have been clearly made into a question just by rising inflection. ---
**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-new-trend-in-speech-a-question-or-is-it-not-a-question/402445/4 "2007-05-02T13:20:41Z")
It’s also quite possible that the people you’ve heard doing this have two rules, and use a sentence-final rising tone to indicate questions with ambiguous answers (“What time does the pub open?”), and a sentence-final level tone to indicate a confirmation-seeking question, e.g. a statement you’re expecting the other party to agree with (“I hear the pub opens at nine o’clock”). ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-new-trend-in-speech-a-question-or-is-it-not-a-question/402445/5 "2007-05-02T13:30:04Z")
The opposite irks me. I’ve noticed people using that rising inflection when making a statement. Arrrrgh. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-new-trend-in-speech-a-question-or-is-it-not-a-question/402445/6 "2007-05-02T13:44:02Z")
[QUOTE=jali] The opposite irks me. I’ve noticed people using that rising inflection when making a statement. Arrrrgh. [/QUOTE] And in my observation, the Aussies are the worst offenders? For doing this? Perhaps **blinkingblinking** is observing the cusp of an intonational swapover, where from now on Australians will inflect statements and fail to inflect questions. Remarkable? ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-new-trend-in-speech-a-question-or-is-it-not-a-question/402445/7 "2007-05-02T14:01:27Z")
This sort of thing is all over the place. People want help, but they don’t know if they can or should ask you. In fact, they’re not sure they even _want_ to ask you. But they want help. They want someone to take charge, give them excellent advice and make their life easier. So they lob the subject out there, using a relatively neutral intonation and they just hope for the best. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-new-trend-in-speech-a-question-or-is-it-not-a-question/402445/8 "2007-05-02T14:15:47Z")
How do Aussies with that characteristic HRT (not that HRT, [High Rising Terminal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_rising_terminal)) distinguish between statements and questions, anyway? Maybe that’s the problem - when speaking to an HRT user, perhaps you have to reaaally raise your intonation at the end of a question for them to recognise it as such. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-new-trend-in-speech-a-question-or-is-it-not-a-question/402445/9 "2007-05-02T14:24:23Z")
[QUOTE=Usram] How do Aussies with that characteristic HRT (not that HRT, [High Rising Terminal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_rising_terminal)) distinguish between statements and questions, anyway? Maybe that’s the problem - when speaking to an HRT user, perhaps you have to reaaally raise your intonation at the end of a question for them to recognise it as such. [/QUOTE] Easy. Questions go [sup]up[/sup]? Statements go [sub]down[/sub]! I opened this thread knowing a Brit would be mentioning Australian speech, and possibly guessing something about the “influence of Australian television in the UK”, but in all honesty, and knowing English speakers from all over, I’ve never thought of this as a particularly Australian [sub]thing[/sub]. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-new-trend-in-speech-a-question-or-is-it-not-a-question/402445/10 "2007-05-02T14:31:38Z")
“\ this account is not the best one for me to have.” Situation where someone would do that: You just explained something about the account which could reasonably be summarized as “Sir, this is not the best account for you to have”. Customer is attempting to summarize back at you what you just said and is waiting for you to confirm that yeah, that’s about it and yeah, customer did correctly follow what you were saying, as well as yeah, the account is not the best one for your customer to have. Situation where you would not expect someone to do that: Out of the clear blue. “I would like a cheeeseburger with fries”. “That is correct, sir. You would indeed. Shall I take your order for that item at this point?” ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-new-trend-in-speech-a-question-or-is-it-not-a-question/402445/11 "2007-05-02T14:47:43Z")
So you believe English is a dead language. [pause] “So that’s it. We’re going to die.” –Arthur Dent I see nothing wrong with eliminating the “So what you are saying is…” part of the query. It removes “you” from the picture and places the questioner alone with the situation as he sees it now–his problem is not of your making, so why should you be part of the question? It also results in a statement which will either sound true or false to the person being questioned, and it will return a confirmation or an explanation of where the questioner’s logic has broken down. It is, in short, a pattern born of frustration, and you would do well to read it as such. I think it is a nice reflection of how isolated that person feels with regard to the situation. They could form a direct question, but that would be asking for help which makes them vulnerable. Has all the fingerprints of an Americanism. I recognize the pattern in some of my customers, and almost none of them feel they are getting a say in what is happening to them. I have found that it is more effective to recognize the statement for what it is than to correct their grammar. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-new-trend-in-speech-a-question-or-is-it-not-a-question/402445/12 "2007-05-02T14:54:54Z")
Do you want a cup of coffee. :mad: What annoys me far more than statements that go up is questions that go down. I don’t hear it often, but when I do, I want to punch… stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-new-trend-in-speech-a-question-or-is-it-not-a-question/402445/13 "2007-05-02T17:04:50Z")
[QUOTE=jali] The opposite irks me. I’ve noticed people using that rising inflection when making a statement. Arrrrgh. [/QUOTE] The worst offender in my mind is Paul Harvey. He has some interesting stories but listening to him tell them just makes me want to choke the living s\*\*t out of him. So whenever he comes on I immediately change the station or absent myself from the location if possible. Good day? ---
**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-new-trend-in-speech-a-question-or-is-it-not-a-question/402445/14 "2007-05-02T20:11:19Z")
[QUOTE=Lunar Saltlick] This sort of thing is all over the place. People want help, but they don’t know if they can or should ask you. In fact, they’re not sure they even _want_ to ask you. But they want help. They want someone to take charge, give them excellent advice and make their life easier. So they lob the subject out there, using a relatively neutral intonation and they just hope for the best. [/QUOTE] I think this is a very good explanation of what many of these people are doing. Usually I say to people that I cannot give them any advice. I can only give out information. After I tell them that, they come out with these pseudo-statements like 'The best way of taking money overseas is travellers cheques." To which I reply “Okay. (pause) Oh are you asking me or telling me?” Cust -“I am asking.” Me- “As I said, I cannot give any suggestions or advice. I can only tell you what the fees and methods are. You need to ask a travel agent for advice about the best way to take money overseas.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-new-trend-in-speech-a-question-or-is-it-not-a-question/402445/15 "2007-05-02T20:52:40Z")
[QUOTE=Projammer] The worst offender in my mind is Paul Harvey. He has some interesting stories but listening to him tell them just makes me want to choke the living s\*\*t out of him. [/QUOTE] What bothers me far more about Paul Harvey is his peddling of hoaxes. To me, it’s the fact that he’s shamelessly pulling heartstrings with a less than rigorous respect for verifiable facts or shamelessly slanting the facts in order to make a banal point that makes his cutesy intonation so infuriating. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-new-trend-in-speech-a-question-or-is-it-not-a-question/402445/16 "2007-05-02T23:11:09Z")
It’s my pet peeve with Kevbabe: “I don’t know if you want to go to \< function\>.” “If you had asked me then you would know.” “I JUST DID!” …sigh…