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AIBU?

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Original poster

To say what instead of pardon?

181 replies

toomanycoffeess · 06/04/2024 19:19

Or is that rude?

OP posts:
OSU · 06/04/2024 20:22

I say 'I beg your pardon?' Occasionally. Most often though I say 'say again'. Prob due to military background.

BeaRF75 · 06/04/2024 20:21

I was brought up lower middle and taught to say "pardon" - I have been trying to shake it off ever since (ditto "serviette", lounge" etc). I think I finally succeeded ....
I love the classic Dame Jilly quote that "Mummy says 'pardon' is a much worse word than 'f*ck'" 🤣

Geebray · 06/04/2024 20:21

fishonabicycle · 06/04/2024 20:17

I always say 'what?' much to all my colleagues amusement. Pardon sounds naff.

That's because pardon is naff.

TerfTalking · 06/04/2024 20:20

I still remember my teacher at my all girls’ grammar school screeching at me because I answered “what” when I didn’t hear her. 43 years later I’ve never said it since, it’s now “sorry.”

😂

Geebray · 06/04/2024 20:19

Cheepcheepcheep · 06/04/2024 20:16

It’s a genuinely lighthearted example but I appreciate I didn’t flag it as such so fair enough!

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Oh right, cool 😄

TipsyKoala · 06/04/2024 20:17

This is really interesting, I wonder if there are regional differences too. I was brought up, and always thought, that ‘what’ is very rude and ‘pardon’ is the correct way. I had no idea some people would think the opposite. I personally say ‘sorry?’. DD 10 says ‘huh?’, even when I’m sure she’s heard, drives me mad!

fishonabicycle · 06/04/2024 20:17

I always say 'what?' much to all my colleagues amusement. Pardon sounds naff.

Tadpole2 · 06/04/2024 20:17

The best solution here is "What did you say?" in a polite rising tone.

Cheepcheepcheep · 06/04/2024 20:16

Geebray · 06/04/2024 20:14

You and your mum seem a bit mixed up.

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It’s a genuinely lighthearted example but I appreciate I didn’t flag it as such so fair enough!

Teentaxidriver · 06/04/2024 20:16

Pardon is non-U amongst wealthy.

Geebray · 06/04/2024 20:15

Upper middle class here, and we have fixed on the compromise of "Sorry, what?" or "Say again"?"

Geebray · 06/04/2024 20:14

Cheepcheepcheep · 06/04/2024 19:58

Yes to pardon being different to sorry. It’s like ‘excuse moi’ to ‘pardon?’ in France.

My mum is a MC wannabe. She she says pardon and lavatory and cemetery. I say sorry and toilet and graveyard.

You and your mum seem a bit mixed up.

ASighMadeOfStone · 06/04/2024 20:12

Cheepcheepcheep · 06/04/2024 19:58

Yes to pardon being different to sorry. It’s like ‘excuse moi’ to ‘pardon?’ in France.

My mum is a MC wannabe. She she says pardon and lavatory and cemetery. I say sorry and toilet and graveyard.

But cemetery and graveyard are historically two different things. A graveyard is inside church grounds, a cemetery is land owned by the authorities for the purpose of burials. Nothing to do with class.

To me (working class English teacher) "what?" sounds ruder than "pardon?". In class, I'd correct any of my students and get them to say "can you repeat that please" etc.

Geebray · 06/04/2024 20:10

"Pardon" = serviette, settee, couch, taking shoes off indoors

Ilovebees · 06/04/2024 20:10

I say sorry , what did you say , I find this very nice and polite :)

Geebray · 06/04/2024 20:07

BCBird · 06/04/2024 19:33

Working class. Always say pardon. If any pupils say what, I give them 'the look' and it soon becomes pardon😆

Why would you do that?

WaltzingWaters · 06/04/2024 20:06

My partner always tells me off (jokingly) for yelling “huh” instead of pardon!

mewkins · 06/04/2024 20:04

Usually 'eh?' 😁 when talking to my family and friends. 'What's that?' Or 'sorry?'

Yearendjoy · 06/04/2024 20:03

I was brought up to say pardon and that 'what' was rude

Thepeopleversuswork · 06/04/2024 20:03

Supersimkin2 · 06/04/2024 19:57

Your reaction defines the social class of both you and the speaker.

What = ewww, how ill-bred and churlish. You are working class being addressed by a toff or umc dweller trying to be polite.

Pardon = ewww, how fey. Naice ham, anyone? Snigger. You are mc being addressed by someone at the other end of your class trying to be polite.

Pretty much this. It’s down to your upbringing and social class. But you can’t claim one or the other is definitively “right”.

Zanatdy · 06/04/2024 20:00

My mum said ‘yeah what’ a lot when she doesn’t hear and I find it quite rude. I mean I’m not offended by it but it’s quite poor manners in my opinion, I’d always say sorry or pardon etc. My dad did the same

KeepingItUnderTheRadar · 06/04/2024 20:00

I can't imagine saying either what or pardon.

What seems rude and abrasive. Pardon just jars for me.

I'd say 'sorry?' or 'sorry I missed that...'

Prawncow · 06/04/2024 19:59

I hate pardon.

Gowlett · 06/04/2024 19:59

What is fine, where I live.

Afraidofthedarke · 06/04/2024 19:58

This is very apt for me today as my just turned 2 year old has suddenly started saying ‘huh?’ if she doesn’t hear me and it’s been driving me mad as I hear it a hundred times a day. I’ve been correcting her with pardon 🤦🏼‍♀️😂same with her older sibling. I just can’t let them say what or huh etc. is that very common of me!?

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