1

For example, someone said:

The dm said its our call

I'm new to D&D, so I don't understand what does it mean by "our call". How do you ask for that? I tried:

What do you mean by "our call"?

But it sounds like I am thinking that the other person says bullshit. The situation is a casual discord conversation.

Is there a better way to ask for the meaning of the word? Is "What does 'our call' mean?" polite enough?

1
  • 2
    In some spoken contexts, What do you mean by [that]? can be used dismissively (implying something like How dare you! or Are you trying to make unpleasant accusations? But these are context-dependent usages - it's extremely unlikely that anyone would think of that meaning in a context where you clearly just wanted the question to be interpreted and answered literally. So don't waste time and effort looking for a "non-offensive" alternative - there's no need, because the "default" phrasing isn't. Mar 22, 2021 at 15:32

1 Answer 1

4

But it sounds like I am thinking that the other person says bullshit.

It doesn't sound like that to me. It's a normal way to ask another person for elaboration. It's polite enough for a casual chat among friends.

You can make things more polite by asking indirect questions.

Could you tell me what "our call" means?

Can you please explain what you meant by "our call"?

I'd simply say

Wait, guys! What's "our call"? What does it mean?

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .