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‎Are there any rhyming words with which one answers to or comments the words like "where", "who", "how" or "so" and "well" or "like" (which fills a pause) if they're irritated by the fact that people, who are involved in a talk and supposed to be listening but actually are not doing so, still don't understand what a speaker means (in part because of the inattentive listening). Such answers are usually considered to be informal, though they don't contain any obscene words in their wording, so it's only acceptable to use them within the circle of your friends or family. Their function is to implicitly convey a certain extent of annoyance.

For example,

A: Why are you so sad? What has happened?

B (doesn't want to tell the truth and plays for time): Well...

A (is willing to listen to the story and interrupts that beating around the bush): In one's shell. Come on, out with it.

Here "well" rhymes with "shell", the phrase "In one's shell" itself doesn't have any meaning here, it just implies impatience and a slight irritation of the speaker.

In Russian, we would normally use in such a situation "Nu..."- "Baranki gnu." ("Well..."-"I'm breaking bagels.")

or:

A:Today I failed all my tests at school. I never thought I would have so many problems.

B (who listened to A with half an ear): Where?

A: In Trafalgar Square. At school of course!

In Russian, we have for this case "Gde? - "V Karagande."( "Where?"-"In the town of Karaganda.")

Laurel
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Marie Mit
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    I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but "Guess what?" "Chicken butt!" comes to mind: http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2016/07/know-chicken-butt/

    It's not really used when someone isn't listening, though, it's moreso used to be cheeky or express annoyance at being asked a rhetorical question.

     – garnerstan Apr 12 '22 at 20:17
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    This is not something we typically do in English. In such situations we might repeat the question: "So, what happened?"; we might try to get the person's attention: "Hey! Did you hear what I just said?"; we might ask a rhetorical question: "Where? Where do you think?!" – Juhasz Apr 12 '22 at 20:37
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    I've never heard of such a rhyming usage in English. My late father would sometimes reply to "Well..." with "What's the use of a well without a bucket?", but Google finds no references to that expression. – Kate Bunting Apr 12 '22 at 20:40
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    A similar, but less specific feature of American (any maybe other dialects, too) English is shm-reduplicaiton, which was borrowed from Yiddish. We can express derision or skepticism towards something by saying a word, then repeating it but with the initial consonant replaced with "shm". As in "He's just a baby!", "Baby-shmaby, he's five years old!" – Juhasz Apr 12 '22 at 20:41
  • Oh... so you're saying that in Russian, there's this thing you do when someone uses a question word alone, you respond with a clever rhyming response that sounds like an absurd answer? I think the answer has to be 'no' for English, it's not a well-known thing that everyone knows about (I don't think it exists at all). Cockney rhyming slang is sort of in the same area, but is not identical (it's well-known in the UK but not at all in the US). – Mitch Apr 12 '22 at 20:42
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    @KateBunting My mother-in-law responds to "Well..." with "A deep subject." – Andy Bonner Apr 12 '22 at 20:48
  • @Juhasz IMO this deserves promotion to an answer and is closest to the spirit of the question: a phrase of impatient dismissal using nonsense and rhyme. – Andy Bonner Apr 12 '22 at 20:49
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    @AndyBonner, I wouldn't be offended if you, or anyone else wanted to provide a fuller picture of shm-reduplication as an answer. For my part, it didn't quite seem to answer the question, which I'm reading more narrowly. However, if Marie Mit thinks this might be the right answer, I'd be happy to expand. – Juhasz Apr 12 '22 at 20:55
  • Are the examples quotations? Translations? Original creations? Please credit any quotes. – Stuart F Apr 12 '22 at 21:43
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    No there isn’t. Cockney rhyming slang constitutes one aspect of this idea, but it is not used in this way. Clearly nonsensical answers like “the Queen of England” constitute the other, but they don’t rhyme. Languages differ. – David Apr 12 '22 at 21:48
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    Does this answer your amended question? "Josephine, Schmosephine" – Edwin Ashworth Apr 13 '22 at 13:57

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