What's That Now?
Could someone please tell me if this phrase is a Cleveland (or, indeed, Midwestern) regionalism? I've been called on it several times at work now. Here's an example:
Coworker, mumbling, asks question that I don't quite hear.
I say, "What's that now?"
Coworker gives me quizzical look.
I asked somebody once what they would say if they hadn't heard someone properly, and they replied, "Excuse me?" Which to me sounds either too formal or like something you'd say after you break wind.
I never noticed What's That Now before, and have no idea if it's natural for me or if I picked it up from somewhere else, like TV or my friend from Texas. Or my dad, who isn't a native Clevelander and has a strange lexicon all his own.
Do you say this?
Coworker, mumbling, asks question that I don't quite hear.
I say, "What's that now?"
Coworker gives me quizzical look.
I asked somebody once what they would say if they hadn't heard someone properly, and they replied, "Excuse me?" Which to me sounds either too formal or like something you'd say after you break wind.
I never noticed What's That Now before, and have no idea if it's natural for me or if I picked it up from somewhere else, like TV or my friend from Texas. Or my dad, who isn't a native Clevelander and has a strange lexicon all his own.
Do you say this?
posted by Christine Borne at 8:19 PM
4 Comments:
I say, "What's that?" (no Now) pretty often. People seem to find it patronizing and annoying. Not sure if it's a Cleveland regionalism, tho.
Ditto the "What's that?" but sans now - and since I'm a native Californian, I'm guessing it's not regional.
I'm a "Pardon?" guy.
Christine,
I think I might have started saying "What's that now?" I bet I picked it up in some stupid utterly mediocre book or lost TV show and then passed it along.
As a side note, in Jacksonville, (where Florida nearly begins and Georgia almost ends), things are grotesquely mispronounced regularly... for example. Cassat Avenue, a major thoroughfare, is pronounced CASS-it. Ribault high school, named for the French fort that was nearby, is pronounced REE-bawlt.
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