What do you mean by this
What do you mean by this
“What do you mean by ___? » Is this ambiguous or rude?
Is asking someone “What do you mean by ___?» a rude way to ask the meaning of something you don’t understand?
For example, when I chat with my American friends, and there is a word I don’t know the meaning. What should I say?
How could I ask the meaning of the word?
3 Answers 3
I disagree with @maggiehm’s answer: I don’t see anything wrong with this phrasing.
However, the intonation does matter.
This sounds totally innocuous and genuine to me.
(So there’s some emphasis on the italicized phrase, with intonation similar to sarcasm.) This would sound accusatory, and if you were writing a novel you might write it as:
«What do you mean by X?» she said as she narrowed her eyes.
However, if I know you’re not from my area (e.g. you’re not a native English speaker, or even if you’re from somewhere that isn’t my own country), I’m going to assume the former intent much more often than the latter, unless you make it really obvious that you’re going for the accusatory type of sentence.
«What do you mean by ‘XX’?» could sound slightly rude because native English speakers might perceive it as accusatory or argumentative.
Instead, I would say something like, «‘XX?’ I’m not familiar with that word/term. Could you explain what that means in this context for me?»
«What do mean by XYZ» implies you understand the word or phrase being expressed but you’re not sure if there is a hidden or double meaning.
A: I won’t be here for long.
B: What do you mean by that? Are you dying!?»
A. Noooo. I’ll be leaving for greener pastures
B: What does that mean? You’re going to the countryside?
A: No, it means I’ve received a job promotion. I won’t be «here» for long because I’m moving to a different department. (OR)
No, it means I leaving this company for a better job.
And what do you mean by this?
Смотреть что такое «And what do you mean by this?» в других словарях:
what do you know — this is surprising. What do you know! Joan has quit her job and moved to Mexico. Usage notes: often used humorously to mean you are not surprised: Well, what do you know the Raiders lost again … New idioms dictionary
what — [ wat, hwat ] function word *** What can be used in the following ways: as a question pronoun (introducing a direct or indirect question): What do you want? Tell me what happened. as a relative pronoun (starting a relative clause that is subject … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
what — W1S1 [wɔt US wa:t, wʌt] pron, determiner, predeterminer [: Old English; Origin: hwAt] 1.) used to ask for information or for someone s opinion ▪ What are you doing? ▪ What subjects did you enjoy most? ▪ What colour is the new carpet? ▪ What s… … Dictionary of contemporary English
Say What You Mean — Infobox Album Name = Say What You Mean Type = Album Artist = Maktub Released = April 12 2005 Recorded = Robert Lang Studios (Seattle) Chez Bob (New York, New York) Genre = Rock and Roll, Soul, Rhythm and blues Length = Label = Velour Recordings… … Wikipedia
Mean — (m[=e]n), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
mean — mean1 W1S1 [mi:n] v [T] past tense and past participle meant [ment] ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(have a particular meaning)¦ 2¦(intend to say something)¦ 3¦(intend to do something)¦ 4¦(result in something)¦ 5¦(be familiar)¦ 6¦(say something seriously)¦ 7¦(how… … Dictionary of contemporary English
mean — I [[t]mi͟ːn[/t]] VERB USES ♦ means, meaning, meant (Please look at category 19 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.) 1) VERB: no cont If you want to know what a word, code, signal, or gesture means, you… … English dictionary
mean — I UK [miːn] / US [mɪn] verb [transitive] Word forms mean : present tense I/you/we/they mean he/she/it means present participle meaning past tense meant UK [ment] / US past participle meant *** Get it right: mean: When you want to say what… … English dictionary
What do you mean with. vs What do you mean by
Yes, the title is correctly expressing my question, so which one of these :
What do you mean with that?
What do you mean by that?
Question : i’ve been wondering which one of them that sounds more natural, at least like a native speaker would use.
2 Answers 2
As a basic question, «What do you mean by that?» is grammatical and idiomatic and means «Please explain the meaning of (or possibly justify) your previous statement more fully».
On the other hand, «What do you mean with that?» as a question by itself is completely unidiomatic, and would never be said by a native speaker.
«What do you mean with that» can be grammatical (in standard English) if it is a question about quoted speech:
What do you mean, «with that»? With what?
is avoided by speakers. A Google n-gram comparison pf «do you mean with that» versus «do you mean by that» gives some evidence that «do you mean with that» is very rare. Furthermore, it doesn’t mean anything different and can be replaced by «what do you mean by that».
It’s rare enough that those who don’t use it and haven’t heard it will regard it as wrong or as some regional dialect, and if a non-native speaker uses it, it will be seen as a non-native mistake.
Note also that some of the matches for «do you mean with that» include sentences having forms such as «Which Mary are you going with? Do you mean, with that girl from across the street?» which is not what we’re interested in. An «n-gram» is just a string of words.
What do you mean OR How do you mean
nowherewr
New Member
I have come across ‘What do you mean’ and ‘How do you mean’? Could you please tell me what is the difference between these two?
Renaissance man
Senior Member
They are very similar.
«How do you mean?» is a more polite way of asking for an explanation.
«What do you mean?» is slightly more challenging, and can be said even though you aren’t sincerely interested in an explanation, but rather just expressing doubt, disapproval or scepticism.
For instance
— English is a typical subject-verb-object language.
— How do you mean, ‘subject-verb-object language’?
— Charles, I don’t think I love you anymore.
— What do you mean, ‘don’t love me anymore’?
Fabulist
Banned
Are you asking about these phrases as stand-alone sentences?
«What do you mean?»
«How do you mean?»
«How do you mean» by itself is unusual, and probably not actually «standard English,» although it is used in American English.
«What do you mean» is often the first part of a question: «What do you mean by that?» «What do you mean by your attitude?» «How do you mean» is not used in these situations as far as I know.
George French
Senior Member
They are very similar.
«How do you mean?» is a more polite way of asking for an explanation.
«What do you mean?» is slightly more challenging, and can be said even though you aren’t sincerely interested in an explanation, but rather just expressing doubt, disapproval or scepticism.
For instance
— English is a typical subject-verb-object language.
— How do you mean, ‘subject-verb-object language’?
— Charles, I don’t think I love you anymore.
— What do you mean, ‘don’t love me anymore’?
Wierd; «How do you mean» is one of those groupings of words out there apparently. Sounds wierd to me. I only use «What do you mean?»
Am I out on a limb here?
Fabulist
Banned
Barque
Banned
Something like asking «Do you want to check that again?» to suggest to someone that something should be checked again.
ribran
Senior Member
They are very similar.
«How do you mean?» is a more polite way of asking for an explanation.
«What do you mean?» is slightly more challenging, and can be said even though you aren’t sincerely interested in an explanation, but rather just expressing doubt, disapproval or scepticism.
For instance
— English is a typical subject-verb-object language.
— How do you mean, ‘subject-verb-object language’?
— Charles, I don’t think I love you anymore.
— What do you mean, ‘don’t love me anymore’?
Paulfromitaly
MODerator
modulus
Senior Member
I don’t think there is anything objectionable in what you quoted. If the intended meaning is «in what manner do you propose we can accomplish that,» then “how do you mean” seems reasonable to me.
However, there is another sense to “how do you mean?” which parallels “how are you called?” The use of “how” when the intended meaning is “what” is archaic in Standard English. You can find this usage, for example, in the works of Charles Dickens, a use that may have maintained in some regions, but otherwise considered archaic.
Added: I was directed to this thread by a recent question in a different thread that was closed and directed to this thread.
Thomas Tompion
Member Emeritus
Three cigarettes and a couple of turns about the room, and I had my response ready: How do you mean come at once? Regards. Bertie.
I append the comeback:
I mean come at once, you maddening half-wit.
What do you mean? would have been too precise here, less maddening.
How do you mean ? is far from archaic in BE: there are 94 examples in the BNC, fewer, of course, than for What do you mean? (978).
The COCA suggests that How do you mean? is still quite usual in AE (116 examples), again fewer than for What do you mean? (4485).