For anyone not aware, if this happens to you frequently and you don’t have any hearing loss it can be a symptom of auditory processing disorder. If you have ADHD or are on the autism spectrum it’s more likely you also have auditory processing disorder.
I’d been considering asking my doctor about this but I figure it’s not going to make much of a difference at this point. I have ADHD and got my hearing tested a few years ago because I was concerned about how often I couldn’t understand what people were saying.
Nope, my hearing is perfect. My brain just has a hard time decoding sounds sometimes I guess. A lot of times people sound like they’re mumbling. I’ve started telling people that I’m hard of hearing and asked them to speak a bit louder, slower, and more clearly. Makes a big difference!
Now add accents to the mix, and the problem becomes ten times worse. I always feel so horrible asking my foreign coworkers to repeat themselves because my brain just refuses to pick up what they’re saying. Oftentimes I get it completely wrong, or I just give up, smile and nod, and hope they weren’t asking me anything important. I already have trouble picking up on what people are saying the first time as is, even clear native English speakers…
I have bad hearing, but I have a bad habit of just giving up after the first repeat if I still can’t fully hear what they’re saying, instead of asking people to talk more clearly because of my hearing issues.
Same. Though the trigger I find is being in a place with a lot of conversations going on at once (such as a busy bar). Its like my brain is trying to process every conversation and can’t focus on the one that actually matters.
I ask them to repeat what they said and then part way through them saying it again, my brain realises what it was first time so I end up agreeing with them while they’re still talking.
I suspect I have APD (all the hallmark symptoms, including chronic ear infections as a kid), and I do this constantly. I think my “what?” is a sort of defense mechanism not to actually hear the words again but to give my brain more time to process what’s been said. Of course I also often do it because I couldn’t understand, particularly with noisy backgrounds.
My sister thinks she might have it too, and we often describe our experience the same way where it’s like we hear something twice. Once is the physical hearing where our ears collect the sound, and the second is the mental hearing where our brains process the sound. For most people I don’t get the sense these are perceptibly different phenomena. But for us, it’s two distinct steps that are often seconds, in rare cases even minutes apart. “What?” can grant me those seconds to process.
I have to do this too at times with my dad. He’ll come bursting into my office like the Kool Aid man and ask me something completely random and I tell him point blank I have no idea what he’s talking about.
I get anxiety about this though as I have a bit of an audio processing disorder where in any room with a lot of background noise I struggle to process what the person right in front of me is saying.
I don’t really know the best approach beyond pretending to know what the other person is saying.
If there’s a lot of background noise then that’s understandable but for example, the other day I went to home Depot to get some tools for a yard project. I asked an employee where the tillers were and she just said ‘what’ like 3 times in a row. I just said nvm and looked on my own.
I don’t know, I guess it just makes it seem to me like the person is not listening to me so why waste time?
OK, so I’ve known a number of Scottish people and I’ve been there a couple of times and generally had no issue understanding them.
However, when working in London years ago, I had to talk to someone based in Scotland on the phone and her accent was just insane.
Honestly it was exactly like this post, she’d say something, I’d say sorry what and this repeated 3 times then…we both burst out laughing. The most insane Scottish accent ever!
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For anyone not aware, if this happens to you frequently and you don’t have any hearing loss it can be a symptom of auditory processing disorder. If you have ADHD or are on the autism spectrum it’s more likely you also have auditory processing disorder.
I’d been considering asking my doctor about this but I figure it’s not going to make much of a difference at this point. I have ADHD and got my hearing tested a few years ago because I was concerned about how often I couldn’t understand what people were saying.
Nope, my hearing is perfect. My brain just has a hard time decoding sounds sometimes I guess. A lot of times people sound like they’re mumbling. I’ve started telling people that I’m hard of hearing and asked them to speak a bit louder, slower, and more clearly. Makes a big difference!
Now add accents to the mix, and the problem becomes ten times worse. I always feel so horrible asking my foreign coworkers to repeat themselves because my brain just refuses to pick up what they’re saying. Oftentimes I get it completely wrong, or I just give up, smile and nod, and hope they weren’t asking me anything important. I already have trouble picking up on what people are saying the first time as is, even clear native English speakers…
I have bad hearing, but I have a bad habit of just giving up after the first repeat if I still can’t fully hear what they’re saying, instead of asking people to talk more clearly because of my hearing issues.
Yep, sometimes I feel like my brain has conversation dyslexia. Like I hear the sounds just fine, but they mean nothing to me.
Same. Though the trigger I find is being in a place with a lot of conversations going on at once (such as a busy bar). Its like my brain is trying to process every conversation and can’t focus on the one that actually matters.
At that point, I’ll just say, “I’m sorry, I’m partially deaf. Could you say that again very loudly or in different words?”
It’s a whole new world.
I think the way I experience is quite awkward.
I ask them to repeat what they said and then part way through them saying it again, my brain realises what it was first time so I end up agreeing with them while they’re still talking.
I suspect I have APD (all the hallmark symptoms, including chronic ear infections as a kid), and I do this constantly. I think my “what?” is a sort of defense mechanism not to actually hear the words again but to give my brain more time to process what’s been said. Of course I also often do it because I couldn’t understand, particularly with noisy backgrounds.
My sister thinks she might have it too, and we often describe our experience the same way where it’s like we hear something twice. Once is the physical hearing where our ears collect the sound, and the second is the mental hearing where our brains process the sound. For most people I don’t get the sense these are perceptibly different phenomena. But for us, it’s two distinct steps that are often seconds, in rare cases even minutes apart. “What?” can grant me those seconds to process.
Yeah it happens to me too sometimes. Probably more common than we realize.
My wife… I ask “what?” and she repeats either just the subject, or the sentence without the subject – never the full sentence.
“We still need to pack for our trip.”
“What?”
“Our trip!”
“What about it?”
I have to do this too at times with my dad. He’ll come bursting into my office like the Kool Aid man and ask me something completely random and I tell him point blank I have no idea what he’s talking about.
My girlfriend will just start talking about something we were talking about 6 weeks ago as though it’s still salient.
My wife does this, too! There will be no context, she just “continues the conversation” as if I’m supposed to have any idea what she’s talking about.
I am guilty of doing this from time to time. My brain just assumes everyone else has context for some reason
gif
I feel personally attacked
SAY ‘WHAT’ AGAIN!! SAY ‘WHAT’ ONE MORE GODDAMN TIME!
I DARE YOU. DOUBLE DARE YOU, MOTHERFUCKER!
Lol no I’m walking away after the 3rd ‘what’ a person gives me in a row. That’s a huge pet peeve of mine.
I get anxiety about this though as I have a bit of an audio processing disorder where in any room with a lot of background noise I struggle to process what the person right in front of me is saying.
I don’t really know the best approach beyond pretending to know what the other person is saying.
If there’s a lot of background noise then that’s understandable but for example, the other day I went to home Depot to get some tools for a yard project. I asked an employee where the tillers were and she just said ‘what’ like 3 times in a row. I just said nvm and looked on my own.
I don’t know, I guess it just makes it seem to me like the person is not listening to me so why waste time?
OK, so I’ve known a number of Scottish people and I’ve been there a couple of times and generally had no issue understanding them.
However, when working in London years ago, I had to talk to someone based in Scotland on the phone and her accent was just insane.
Honestly it was exactly like this post, she’d say something, I’d say sorry what and this repeated 3 times then…we both burst out laughing. The most insane Scottish accent ever!
Hahahah. I can feel the awkwardness through the screen 👀
nice try stone cold steve austin, we’re all onto your “what” gimmick! WE’VE SEEN IT BEFORE
My life with ADH… Oh look there! A bird! What were we talking about?
Did people actually upvote this meme
It’s not funny but it’s relatable to some of us
What? What? What? Okay! What? What? What? Yeah!
Especially tasty when they’re introducing themselves.