When did people start saying "Say again" when they wanted something repeating, instead of the "Beg your pardon" or "Sorry" I was brought up with? And where did the phrase come from?
Paul Steeples, London UK
- haha, yeah I hear that seldomly most times I hear ...say what?! sounds rude...so I come back with this...'saywhatahuh?' nicely said and catches attention, beg ur pardon is totally for the ole school, I also say..Im sorry, what did u say or I didnt hear that or could you repeat that please? see Im cordial, I got manners
Lina, las vegas usa`
- It's been introduced from standard radio communications procedures in the armed forces and Air Traffic Control. the words Mayday, Roger and a few others have all made their way into the English language from this medium. Interestingly the word 'affirmative' has been dropped due to some verbal misunderstandings and now is merely 'affirm' - none of which are particularly polite, merely expedient. I understand your ire in this tendency towards a lack of polite idioms but our world is increasingly full of expedience over politeness. Let's start a trend and use the polite vernacular whenever we can.
Chris, Brigton UK
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