To say this is rude?

[PiedPiper558]

Replying with 'what?' when you have not heard what someone has said.

What?

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No, it isn't rude. There was a long thread about manners/etiquette last week which discussed this.

Of course if the person barks it in a rude tone of voice it would be rude, but not in itself.

I don't think it's rude unless said aggressively.

Well, the "proper" response would be "pardon?" so in that respect, then yes, "what?" is technically rude. Its not something I could get steamed up about, though.

I think it very much comes down to the scenario its being said and the tone. For instance, if I was having an important medical consultation and the Dr said "what?" in a snippy tone, it would come across as rude. If a doctor was chatting to a colleague at the nurses station and misheard a comment and said "what?" it would simply be colloquial speech.

Pardon, excuse me or sorry with an inflection are politer

'What' is the correct response and it not rude at all.

Depends on tone, really. I have a colleague who says “whaaaa?” and it a) sounds really rude and b) makes her sound really unintelligent (which isn’t the case.) I say “sorry, what was that?” if I mishear, which covers all bases.

Apparently it's what upper class people say but I think it sounds rude.

No, pardon is not the 'proper' response. There have been several threads on here on the subject, have a search.

Well, the "proper" response would be "pardon?"
There was literally a whole thread last week about how terrible it is to even utter the word Pardon.

I prefer it to pardon - dreadfully old-fashioned word. What or sorry are perfect if said in the right tone.

It's not rude unless the delivery is rude. You could say 'pardon' rudely too - it's the tone that makes it rude, not the choice of word.

"What" is correct.
Everything else is considered déclassé in "proper" circles.

It's all a load of wank really.

Depends entirely on how contrary I want to be... Really though - I wouldn't pick my kids up on it unless their tone was rude. They know many many other ways of asking and can employ them when appropriate.

It's fine.

Pardon is a horrible word

i think its really rude tbh

actually having said that, i does depend on delivery. my kids always say it like kevin and perry when they use it. so my answer was based on that !

I would say 'Sorry what did you say?'
What in itself isn't inherently rude but it does sound a bit abrupt. As pp's have said though, tone and situation are relevant.

“Pardon” gives me the absolute shivers

I usually say "Sorry?" but wouldn't be offended by "What?" unless it was said aggressively. I would cringe a bit at "pardon".

Explain why “what” is rude please, OP.

I don’t think it’s rude necessarily. But I wouldn’t use it, say, in an interview if I didn’t hear something.
I’d say it’s more informal than rude.

I noticed that one of my DDs friends always says pardon (they are 4) and it suddenly occurred to me that I should be teaching DD to say that. In my defence I normally say “what was that” rather than just what but the way my DD says it isn’t the best, I think a lot of whether it’s rude is in the tone of voice

Is it just me or is there an obsession on here with rudeness. It’s thread after thread of general normal stuff and someone saying is it rude?

I like 'pardon?' I speak French though so 'pardon' is normal not put on.