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Can "Yes. And so?" serve as a request for completion or continuation of the thought?

For example:

Merry: Jack, you can speak Japanese, French, Korean and Arabic.

Jack: Yes. And so?

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1 Answer

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It can, but it's rather brusque, as if the speaker is saying 'Yeh, and what if I do?'

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Can you, please, come up with something similar, but less brusque? – brilliant Dec 14 '11 at 12:51
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@brilliant: It would depend on the circumstances and the relationship between the two speakers. A more polite response might be 'Well, yes, I do as a matter of fact. Why do you ask?' – Barrie England Dec 14 '11 at 12:56
I see. Thank you. Very good example. – brilliant Dec 14 '11 at 13:06
"Brusqueness", like most attitudes, is not conveyed by the words but by the tone, body language, facial expression etc. It's brief, but I don't believe it's necessarily brusque. Am I smiling, with raised eyebrows and an amused glint in my eye, or glaring, with a scowl? – mickeyf Dec 14 '11 at 14:33
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@mickeyf: Probably easier with "And so?" than with "What's it to you?", for example. But really, these are hostile/aggressive turns of phrase that no-one in their right mind should think can be "sanitised" by additional non-verbal communication. – FumbleFingers Dec 14 '11 at 21:49

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