Timeline for is responding with "Entschuldigung?" to something I could not understand considered impolite?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
6 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Aug 7 at 14:57 | comment | added | bakunin | @arne: I remember sitting in the U-Bahn when a mother with two children sat down vis-a-vis. She said something and the son answered with "Hä?" To which the mother answered (in dialect): "Das heißt nicht 'hä?', das heißt 'wos?'". | |
| Aug 6 at 13:29 | comment | added | rob74 | Actually, "wie bitte?", if you get the intonation wrong, can also be considered impolite, same as "Entschuldigung?" (there was even a TV show with this name where the title was meant not really politely: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wie_bitte%3F!). So I would recommend "sorry", even if it's not really German. Plus it has the advantage of being much shorter, then you can follow it up with "ich hab' Sie/dich nicht verstanden" or similar. | |
| Aug 6 at 4:47 | comment | added | arne | "Wie bitte?" is sufficient to indicate that you want something repeated. You could also just say "Was?", but only in very informal contexts, e.g. with friends or family. | |
| Aug 5 at 15:39 | comment | added | planetmaker | @Stephie Read my whole answer. That is why i wrote '(...) sometimes interpreted as indignation at what was said in a tone of "don't dare to repeat that".' | |
| Aug 5 at 9:57 | comment | added | Stephie | But „Entschuldigung“ alone can have a connotation of „how dare you“ or implying that the speaker feels slightly offended. See the answer by Ralf. | |
| Aug 5 at 9:18 | history | answered | planetmaker | CC BY-SA 4.0 |