Is it possible they thought they were being funny, ala “Airplane!”?
You know “a Hospital! What is it?”
“A big building with a lot of beds”.
I have an Indian coworker who speaks faster than I thought was humanly possible, and with a strong Indian accent. She realizes that she is hard to understand, so if you look the slightest bit puzzled when she finishes talking, she’ll immediately repeat whatever random word out of the sentence that she thinks you’ve missed, but progressively even faster.
This is even more entertaining since, as I’ve gotten used to her, I frequently do understand what she’s said, but was puzzled about how to respond. I’m told this makes it really interesting for third parties listening in.
Her: Hmmffmybydozzremovealdemgrtingalgens. <miniscule pause, during which she sees I look puzzled> Mgrting! Mrgt! Mrt!
Me: When you say heminephrectomy, are you referring to the removal of the implants?
Her: Yeshmmffurvalmybylvmgrtcllznbdy. Rval! Rval! Rval!
Me: Well, have you tried sectioning any other organs?
Random other coworker: What the fuck?
Have you ever tried fucking slowly? It’s harder than it looks.
This is extra fun in a language you don’t speak, because sometimes you say “what” because you didn’t understand, and sometimes you say it because you didn’t hear.
Barrels of monkeys on speed of laughs, I tells ya.
I’d rather hear “what” than the Navy’s standard “Say again?”. Mostly because, as a civilian working on naval vessels I usually heard it as a command instead of a request. “Say again.” is not a polite request for repetition, especially since it usually came from gnarled old petty officers that weren’t too happy to see a woman on their ship in the first place.
No, I don’t think so.
My younger son is one of those people who says, “What?” automatically, even if he heard you clearly. If you wait a second, you probably won’t have to repeat yourself. It’s become a joke, so at my house any utterance of “What?” will trigger an avalanche.
Me: “Do you want milk with your supper?”
Child: “What?”
Me: “What?”
Child: “What?”
Husband: “What?”
Older son: “What?”
Responding to a specific question or statement with “what?” is the smallest step up from communicating via grunts. At the very least, “What?” is imprecise.
-If you wanted to hear the same thing repeated you could say something along the lines of, “Would you please repeat that?” or “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.”
-If you heard it but didn’t understand you could say, “Could you rephrase that” or “I don’t understand what you are asking.”
-If you didn’t hear the first part you could ask, “What did you want to know about the movie?”
-For the second part, “What time was the what?”
-Your “What?” could easily and reasonably be interpreted as “What time is the what?” - in which case the response “the movie” was entirely appropriate.
But if you choose to be such a lazy conversationalist, I see no basis for your being upset when your fellow conversant makes a reasonable attempt at interpreting of your unclear utterance.
Rosencrantz: Another curious scientific phenomenon is the fact that the fingernails grow after death, as does the beard.
Guildenstern: What?
Rosencrantz: Beard.
Guildenstern: But you’re not dead.
Rosencrantz: I didn’t say they only started to grow after death. The fingernails also grow before birth - though not the beard.
Guildenstern: What?
Rosencrantz: BEARD! What’s the matter with you?
I have to say I am guilty of repeating what I said (that wasn’t heard/understood) at exactly the same volume and intonation. Then it will occur to me that if I wasn’t understood, I might want to speak up, or more clearly. :smack:
I am also guilty of saying “sorry, wha’ happened?” as a substitute for “what?”. I think it’s to say something less abrupt that “what?”.
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[li]there’s[/li][li]a[/li][li]button[/li][li]for[/li][li]bullet[/li][li]points[/li][/ul]
What?
Button! What’s the matter with you?
I gave up on my wife long ago with this. If I miss something she says, I say “repeat that entire sentence from the beginning.” Yes, it’s bulky, but still faster than the alternative exchange of “Blah blah underwear”/“What?”/“Underwear.”/“Whose underwear and what about it?” This way we can proceed straight to “You never listen to me”/“You always mumble”.
If he my boyfriend? Because he does the exact same thing. It drives me absolutely nuts. If there’s one thing that really grinds my gears, it’s repeating myself, especially for no reason. Sometimes I respond with “WHAT??” which apparently drives him nuts, so we’re at an impasse. One night I shall murder him in his sleep; that should solve the problem either way.
I get a number of customers who, when asked for their phone numbers (so I can find their account), will spit out the entire ten digits in about .5 of a second. And then, when I politely ask them to repeat it because I only caught the area code, will sigh loudly in exasperation and then say “9 (count to three, sigh loudly) 7 (count to three, huff again) 3 (count to three,)” and so on.
I want these people to come and take calls for me. It is the only appropriate punishment.