I’m from New Zealand, and to say “huh?” when someone asks you a question and you haven’t heard them is considered pretty rude. We usually just say “pardon?”, “what was that?” or “sorry?”. When an American tourist said “huh?” while shrugging her shoulders to me I was a bit taken aback. To me it seemed like she thought I was some great annoyance and I was a bit hurt haha. But it got me wondering, maybe this is the norm in the U.S.?
37 comments
It’s not out of the ordinary and not considered rude.
I usually say exsqueeze me?
We’ll also do “Hm?”
Here in the Cincinnati tristate area it’s “please?” if you want them to repeat what they said
The tone of voice used makes a difference, but generally “huh?” is not considered rude as a way of expressing that you didn’t hear/understand someone. I actually have a habit of saying “pardon?” & I have no idea why because it’s really not something people my age say. People often give me looks like I’m trying to make a joke or that I’m just being pretentious.
I’m from the south east where it is most likely more common but I don’t hear it as much as I used to. I never let my kids say it. I stopped saying it when I realized how bad it sounded from my kids. Just as I stopped saying “I’m fixing to” rather than “I’m about to.” It’s a southern thing.
It’s informal, certainly not rude. I’m sure there are phrases and tics that you guys use that we’d find offensive, like the C-word.
It’s pretty common and is not considered rude. ‘Sorry’ is also common, ‘what was that?’ could be rude or not depending on tone and situation. ‘Pardon’ is uncommon (at least where I live) and would sound a bit pretentious to some.
No, not rude at all. Very common.
“Hmm, What?” – Didn’t hear
“Huh, What?” -Don’t understand.
​
Maybe New York specific though.
I think huh is pretty rude except in very informal contexts, but this doesn’t seem to be a universally held opinion in the US. Which is to say, the tourist who said “huh” to you was probably not trying to be rude.
It generally isn’t rude, and “pardon” sounds like you’re LARPing as Henry VIII or something.
Depends on the context. It is informal to say “huh”. I wouldn’t say it a stranger or a person of authority, such as my boss at work. I’d say something more polite like “Excuse me”.
Drinking buddies? Sure.
It’s normal here
It honestly really just depends on the tone that you use. I will go “Hmm?” if it’s someone I’m informal with but will usually say something like “I’m sorry, what was that?” if I’m trying to be more polite.
Like others said it’s not really rude but informal.
Short answer: yes. It’s normal, common, not considered rude.
We’re a very informal culture. Odds are unless someone said something in a clearly rude tone, they weren’t being rude.
IIRC huh is universal but not because of English influence. It’s an odd notice people make when confused or didn’t hear right.
It was huh or some sort of equivalent
Just a cultural difference. “Huh” in that situation generally isn’t a faux pas here, unless she had some other indicator of derision like a snarky tone or an eye role.
Very common, not considered rude except maybe by older/stuffy people who would also take exception to “no problem” or “no worries” in response to thank you. Or in very formal situations I’d probably avoid it, like if I was at a fancy gala or in court lol
I have bad hearing and my brain often takes a second to process what my ears just heard so I ask people to repeat themselves to the point of annoyance sometimes haha. I usually say “huh/hmm?”, “say again?” or “what was that?”
Not necessarily rude, but ill mannered.
I like “come again”
We do use it a lot and it is not rude here. Informal but definitely not rude.
“Pardon” isn’t a word I hear much in the US, period. It almost sounds British to me, since it’s a thing you mostly hear from like an 8 year old British boy on TV. If we need to get past someone, we say “scuse me.”
“What was that?” sounds normal, but it’s very long, so the sort of thing to say to someone you’d address as “sir.”
So yeah, “huh?” is our default sound of confusion.
It’s very casual, but also, “Huh…” means “I am listening” whereas “Huh?” means either, “I didn’t hear you” or “Were you talking to me or someone else” or “I’m confused, explain further.” It’s not rude and has nothing to do with annoyance.
Huh = Please repeat, I didn’t hear or understand you.
In the south they say “do what?”. It makes no sense to me.
I sometimes do, but I have a slight hearing impairment and an audio-processing delay. I try to ask someone to repeat themselves rather than say “Huh”.
Depends on the context. Saying it in a formal setting might be seen as lowbrow, but in an informal setting it’s fine to say among friends.
We don’t say “pardon” unless we’re being formal, and “sorry” is only for apologies.
No it’s not considered rude. We are an informal people.
do what now?
Raised in the Northeast and I would say “Huh?” or “Hmm?”.
As for saying something like “Pardon?” or “Sorry?” or “Excuse me?”…this gets interesting. In the South people value formal manners more and will definitely use these as well as the informal “Do what?” For someone raised in the Northeast, saying “Excuse me?” to get clarification sounds almost confrontational. It’s something teachers or parents will use to remind you that you probably shouldn’t have said what you said. “Pardon” sounds super formal outside of the South or Canada and “Sorry” in this context doesn’t work in the US.
Super common, not rude. I didn’t even know until now that saying that is rude XD
A clearly annoyed *what?* with a pained expression is the rude one.
“Huh?” is really casual and informal. Kind of weird to use it with a stranger in a brief encounter but not a slap in the face or something.
People tend to get hyper sensitive to what Americans are saying/doing, so tend extrapolate a lot more meaning from really mundane stuff. I doubt they were trying to be rude.
As a child and teen I said “Huh?” Or “What?”
As I’ve trained myself to be more business-friendly so to working with people I use “I’m sorry, what was that?” “Can you repeat that?” “What’s that?” Or “What was that again?”
Absolutely the norm for a first misunderstanding. People mumble a lot. If you misunderstand the second time, normally you put more effort into the reply — “I’m sorry, I can’t understand what you’re saying” etc.
>I’m from New Zealand, and to say “huh?” when someone asks you a question and you haven’t heard them is considered pretty rude
I want to ask about that in a New Zealand sub, because I’m like 90% sure that that is a you issue and not a New Zealand one.