What did he have to say?

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Teo

#138479 Sat, 17 Sep 05 03:41 PM

"I saw you talking with our neighbour: what did he have to say?"

For me, What did he have to say? is semantically odd question.

Can anyone explain the meaning of this question?

Thanks a lot for your help.

Teo

Joined on Tue, Sep 28 2004

Taiwan

Contributing Member (1,611)

Thank you very much for your reply.

Mister Micawber

#138482 Sat, 17 Sep 05 03:46 PM

A reasonably common remark, Teo. It means what information/conversation did he present/offer? It means roughly the same as What did he say? We use the phrase when we suspect that the third party wished to comment, and we would like to know what s/he said.

(PS: have means possess; it is not the semi-modal have to.)

Mister Micawber

Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004

Yokohama

Veteran Member (21,121)

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

Conversations, Modals

pieanne

#138486 Sat, 17 Sep 05 03:56 PM

Hi, MM,

Am I wrong to think that when you use that expression, you need to have the topic mentioned? E.g.: "I saw you talking with the neighbour... I bet you were talking about yesterday's dinner! What did he have to say?"

pieanne

Joined on Thu, Jan 20 2005

South of France ...But I'm Belgian!

Veteran Member (7,512)

I'm glad to help, but I'm not a native! And please excuse my typos...

Expressions

Mister Micawber

#138495 Sat, 17 Sep 05 04:11 PM

That is a common feature of the context, Pieanne, but I don't think it's necessary. I at least say such as: Oh, you saw old Jinks yesterday?-- what did he have to say for himself? The meaning is not that I expect Jinks to have talked of any particular topic, but I did expect that he would have some comment to make, as he is a talkative or opinionated fellow.