to say "pardon?"

[matildamatilda]

So I'm American and in the US it's not rude to say "What?" when someone calls you or when you didn't hear something.

It's informal, but not at all rude. Especially if you say it in a pleasant tone. So kids wouldn't be told off for answering "what?" the way they are here. It's just "what" as in "what did you say?"

Since I've lived here I've been training myself to say "Pardon?" but I just can't get the hang of it. It sounds kind of... supercilious maybe? Huffy? Am I just not pulling it off?

I usually end up saying, "Here I am, " or "Sorry did you say something?"

Do you say "pardon"?

BuggerLumps - are you annoyed??

Wot!

bowlersarm - possibly

Eh, whit did ye say, wee man?

If I had someone else's child over and they said 'What' I'd think it sounded rude but I'd never correct them, it's not my place

Well, none of them are 'wrong', just as 'toilet' isn't any righter or wronger than 'loo', 'lavatory', 'bog' or whatever, or 'napkin'/'serviette', or 'sofa'/'settee'/'couch'.

Different words just have different social class connotations in this country, historically. Some people are aware of them and care, some people are aware of them and don't care, some people aren't aware of any connotations at all.

'What' is rude.

'Eh' is rude.

'Sorry ' is ok.

' Pardon' is good manners.

I can't believe how many people think 'what' is an acceptable response - it's rude and I'd correct my children if they said it and apologise if I said it myself.

I say what usually (or if feeling partic loyal it's a yerwot in homage to my dear Yorkshire) but I might say sorry at other times. We all know what we mean by what, sorry, hmm?, excuse me, pardon......have too little patience for quibbling about what's U/non U (people who sniff at 'pardon', I'm looking at you).

tigga's post caught my eye justbefore I hit post and I swear that's not me posting snidely without having the guts to be properly confrontational wasn't specifically directed at you!

But 'what' is not rude. What's rude about it? The W? the....H? it's fine for loads of people.

How acceptable is raising an eyebrow, adopting a Mexican accent and saying Que?

He11y, genuine question - can you explain why "what?" is rude?

x-post with quirrel.

I knew someone (a woman in her 60's) who, if she didn't hear what you said, would bark "Ay?" at you (possibly spelt "eh?" - unsure of spelling as it was a sound and not a word.) Used to put my teeth on edge. She did it on the phone as well.
That's rude!

It's just occurred to me as a child can I and may I meant different things,

If I said "can I go and ride my bike" (moot example as I cannot) the response would have 100% been "I don't know,can you?" The yes or no would not have been forthcoming until I said may I

'What' is not rude.

'Eh' is quite rude.

'Sorry' is more than acceptable.

'Pardon' is just dire.

I'm from a working class background and was taught to say pardon instead of what. I often say sorry or huh but don't like hearing the children say what.

Back to the original thread. Down here in the posh? South "pardon" is considered to be very rude and most people I know would say "sorry could you repeat that?"

I usually say 'sorry?' but I don't mind either 'what?' or 'pardon?'.

However, to me 'huh?' or 'eh?' or (worse of all) 'ha?' sound rude because they are not even proper words.

I'm from NZ, so not at all posh, but I can't stand what, so I always say pardon, my dad trained me and I'm beginning to train DD age 3.

Pardon sets my teeth on edge.

My grandmother used to say "only the queen can pardon" with a glare if she heard any of us say it.

Trying to drill it out of DD who seems to have been taught it at nursery.

I'm in the South and have never heard anyone say Pardon is rude, We must be total scum balls

I can't believe how many people think 'what' is an acceptable response - it's rude and I'd correct my children if they said it and apologise if I said it myself.
Which is exactly what I would do should a child of mine use 'pardon'.

Can I = Am I able

May I = Am I allowed.

Pardon?