第949期：该说 what do you mean 还是 how do you mean？
如果别人跟你说了一句话，你没听明白，你是该问 What do you mean？还是 How do you mean？
我的中学英语老师说不能说How do you mean. 但他教错了。或者说他说的也不算错，只是不全面。对于中学生而言，大概会说 What do you mean就够了。
What do you mean？ 和 How do you mean？这两种说法都对，都是正确的英语，只是涵义稍有不同。
- What do you mean? 这句话至少有三种不同的涵义和口气，大家体会一下下面三个例句。
（1）used when you do not understand what someone is trying to say.
当你完全没听懂对方说的内容时，你可以问 What do you mean? 这个最简单。还有很多不同说法，可以请对方重复再说一遍。
例如：
‘You’ll be careful won’t you?’
‘What do you mean?’
（2）used when you are very surprised or annoyed by what someone has just said
例如：
What do you mean, you’ve cancelled the trip? 你说什么？行程取消了？（口气是不敢相信，不是没听懂。）
（3）used when you are very annoyed by what someone has just done
例如：
What do you mean by calling me at this time of night? 这么晚你打我电话是几个意思？（口气是不爽）
以上是中学英语内容，下面是佛老今天要讲的重点。
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How do you mean?
Used to ask someone to explain something they have just said.
当别人跟你说了一句什么话，你听懂了，但对其中的某一点不太确定不太明白，这时候，恰当的做法是问 How do you mean?
例如：
A: What’s your family situation?
B: How do you mean?
A: Are you married?
看懂这个对话了吗？
别人问你家庭状况，你听懂了，但不明白他指的是什么家庭状况。于是问 How do you mean？他解释说，哦，我的意思是你结婚了吗？
当然这时候你仍然可以问 What do you mean？但对方可能会以为你没听到，于是可能再重复一遍他的问题：What’s your family situation？结果你还是不知道他指的是什么家庭状况。
另外，从语气上讲，问How do you mean？的语气要比What do you mean？委婉很多，不会令对方觉得自己表达有问题。否则人家说一遍，你问一句What do you mean？对方很可能就不想跟你说话了。这是一个很细小很微妙的语气差异。
小结今天的内容：
If you say ‘How do you mean?‘ to someone, you are asking them to explain or give more details of what they have just said.
例如：
The fuel gauge is broken.
Broken? How do you mean?
平时看美剧时你可以留意一下，看看美国人在什么情况下问How do you mean?
参考资源
What do you mean? asks for a complete explanation. The speaker did not understand any of what was said, or understood very little of it.
How do you mean? asks in what way what was said is true. The speaker understood the main idea of what was
said, but wants clarification of the sense in which it was intended or
how it applies to specific situations. (www.englishforums.com)
