To say what instead of pardon?

[toomanycoffeess]

Or is that rude?

Bet you’re the subject of many laughs in the staff room.

Same here 😊 and I've been congratulating myself for years that my children actually do say pardon when my mum didn't succeed with me when I was little.
Now I read this thread.....😳😂

This has been done to death. Say whatever you want and most English speakers will get your gist. Choose what class signals / dialect / impression you want to give off if you like.

Ya what love?

'What?' might be mistaken for an aggressive 'You, wot?' depending on where you are and earn you a dirty look at best and a punch at worst.

Meanwhile, the contents of the Lav, crapper, loo, ladies, gents, toilet, pissoir, little boys/ girls room, bathroom, 'facilities' will all end up in our rivers eventually.

Pardon, is when you're asking / need forgiveness. i.e. you've farted, loud burp etc.
Excuse me, sorry can you repeat, what -tone important.
Does any one really give a shit about this kind of stuff these days.

Working class: What?
Middle class: Pardon?
Upper class: Sorry?

No, Upper Class is What.

Just never say pardon. About anything.

In those instances you would say "Excuse me", if you acknowledged them at all.

But you are snobby, aren't you? An inverted one.

no, that's "pardon me"

And obviously quite a lot of people care

I grew up saying what (lmc with wc roots and relatives) and began to be told by teachers to say pardon at almost exactly the same time I was becoming aware both of class distinctions in language and of the advantages that being thought higher-class might bring. (And read Jilly Cooper's seminal work a year or so later.)

The resulting confusion means I now say "sorry?"

Still cling on to lounge, settee, loo, napkin or serviette depending on context and company (yes, you absolutely can use both [eyeroll]), scent, mirror, mantelpiece, glasses, false teeth, jack, die (? I'm looking at the wikipedia page right now), jam, pudding, teacher. Take issue with their putting lounge against dining-room (two completely different things) and agree with pp that cemetery and graveyard are different too. While obviously dinner can be at either lunchtime or teatime.

I just cup my ear and go "eh??" 🤣

First answer nails it (for me.) I say 'sorry?' or 'sorry - I didn't catch that.'

And I am working class, not upper-class. (A pp suggested UC say 'sorry?') I just think saying 'sorry?' when you didn't hear someone properly just sounds nicer/more polite.

'Pardon?' sounds like you're a bit annoyed, and 'what?' sounds too coarse (IMO.)

Pardon me, Pardon you. Tongue in cheek, where I'm from anyway. Don't think I've ever heard anyone use it seriously.

DD had a teacher who did this. We all laughed about it at home.

I'm definitely not upper class 🤣

My DDad used to say 'Don't say what say eh, ey makes bullshit' He was full of sayings like that. I miss him

Sitting room?

Pardon me is almost worse than pardon.

Isn't it quite stressful, worrying about whether your children are considered common?

Tbh, it's bad enough worrying that they may be considered posh. If I'd also had to think about what his future fellow choral scholars (several actual Eton alumni) called their relaxing room I might have been committed...

I associate 'pardon me' with someone having burped or farted. 😄

Yeah, but I don't say that. I just say 'better out than in!' 😆

My kind of person 😂

😘😃😛

This is interesting

My FIL, very wealthy public school boy, always say what?