Very, very posh people.

[Shadow Man]

The stereotype of a really posh person with perfect received pronunciation, seem to say "what" at the end of each sentence.

For example

"Spiffing weather today, what"

"Good day for hunting, what"

What's all that about, and when did it all start?

Perhaps it is only in the old movies, as I do not know anybody in real life who says it, what.

[confused79]

never even heard of that myself, i must be very common, what? sounds wierd!

[caz247]

from what i can remember the only people on films that say it are male which i find strange too

[Quizmonkey]

It's really only the precursor of 'innit', after all.

[Panic Button]

What?

[Quizmonster]

It's really an abbreviation of "What say you?"...basically meaning "Don't you agree?"...or, as Quizmonkey suggests, "Innit?" It has been used thus since the 1700s.

[HassanRafeeq]

Same as a canadian saying "eh?" at the end of a sentence I think.
"Good day for hunting eh?"
My father will add "no?" to the end of almost every sentence/statement. (He is serbian)
"Is good day for hunting, no?"

I did have a professor once who said "what?" after each sentence. It made his lectures very hard to follow, because I didn't know if he was asking a question or giving a statement. I haven't heard anyone use it since, but most if not all of my friends are common.

[Devonian]

Another similar way of endimng a statement if one was posh was "Dontcherknow?" Now, if one isn't posh, the usual is "you know" at inappropriate points in the sentence.

[jno]

Hassan, a Frenchman might say 'n'est-ce pas?', which means 'isn't it so?' but in effect means the same as your father does... basically, all these things mean 'don't you agree?', which is a polite way of turning a flat statement into an invitation to a conversation.

[cointreau]

as well as all the above answers, the sound 'wat'/'what' was an intrinsic part of English metrical composition from at least the time of the writing of Beowulf; it was used (sometimes with drums) at the end of verses to give the effect of 'What ho' or 'Agreed'. These were quite masculine chants so maybe that is why women are not perceived as using the term as much as men...?

[clairey-s]

Reminds me of Americans doing and impression of a posh English sterotype..

"Lovely tea, what what"

x

[Devonian]

I wonder whether anyone has ever actually heard anyone saying any of these things, or whether they are myths, like every Irishman saying "Begorrah" or every Scotsman saying "Hoots mon"? Some of the speech patterns of the idle rich are attributable to the writings of P G Wodehouse, dontcherknow?

[andy-hughes]

What about Alex's teacher in 'A Clockwork Orange' who appended every sentence with a sneering uplifted "Yeees?"

Creepy, but part of the wonderful almost Shakesperian dialogue throughout the film.

[Hellyon]

My mother told me 'don't say what say pardon' lol which of course if you're posh you say 'I beg your pardon'

[stewey]

Jolly good thread, eh?

[WaldoMcFroog]

Actually, if you're posh you say 'what' not 'pardon'!

Apparently the Queen was most upset that Kate Middleton's mother used 'pardon' and regarded it as a sign of inferior breeding.

Presumably as opposed to the favoured inbreeding of the royal houses of Europe...