I grew up in the states with a close friend whose parents are both from the UK and she's the only person I've known to say "I beg your pardon" with regularity. Is that a British/UK English thing too? I never hear/read it used otherwise but it seems more succinct and "proper" to me.

Mentioning it because I'm actually slightly surprised to see the "sorry, what did you say" usage here and in the article because it seems so pedestrian

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enochthered 7 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

“I beg your pardon” can be translated as “what the fuck did you just say to me?”

It’s getting quite serious if you have to whip that one out

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roarcher 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I'm American and I've heard Americans say "I beg your pardon", but like you I've always thought of it as a slightly proper (maybe WASP-y) idiom. People frequently say "excuse me", "sorry?", or "say again?". At least I do. Maybe I should get my ears checked.

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cromka 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

They'll also commonly say "pardon me", which is a bit nicer "say again", but definitely nowhere close to "I beg your pardon" uptightness.

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tdeck 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I'm familiar with the expression but if an American said that to me, I'd probably think it meant "rethink what you just said".

	▲	roarcher 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It depends a lot on their tone. Most of the time I've heard it, it's a quick "begpardon?", sometimes with their ear cocked towards you. When I see it in writing, I too for some reason picture an angry posh British man who is about to demand satisfaction.

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thrownthatway 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The usage of "I beg your pardon" is not uncommon in Australia, but more ironic.

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swarnie 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

"I beg your pardon" like "Sorry" can have multiple meanings based on the situation and inflection.

It can be used to excuse not hearing something, to get someone to repeat something preposterous or to generally reply to something shocking without actually expecting the other person to reiterate.

I hear it most days in corporate tech.....

	▲	DonHopkins 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It's the perfect retort whenever someone expects a rose garden. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eclUz-RYI