come again

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Interjection

come again

1. (idiomatic, informal, by ellipsis) A polite formula used when one has not heard or understood what has been said, or to indicate surprise.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:say again

   • 1955, Rex Stout, "When a Man Murders...", in Three Witnesses, October 1994 Bantam edition, →ISBN, page 120:

     "Who says he did?" / "Aubry." / "Yeah? A guy in for murder? Come again." / "Glad to. Beebe says so too."

   • 1994, Pulp Fiction:

     Vincent: A "please" would be nice. / The Wolf: Come again? / Vincent: I said a "please" would be nice. / The Wolf: Get it straight, Buster. I'm not here to say "please". I'm here to tell you what to do.

2. (idiomatic) Used as a polite farewell to a visitor, inviting a return visit.

Usage notes

• As a farewell, mainly used in retail stores and service establishments such as hotels and restaurants.

Translations

could you repeat that

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 你說什麼／你说什么 (nǐ shuō shénme)

• Finnish: voisitteko toistaa pl (formal), voisitko toistaa? sg (less formal), toistaisitteko? pl (formal), toistaisitko? sg (less formal)
• French: pardon ? (fr), plaît-il ? (fr), comment ? (fr), quoi ? (fr), (informal) de quoi ? (fr), (colloquial) hein ? (fr)
• German: wie bitte (de), bitte (de), nochmal bitte
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: tessék? (hu)
• Italian: prego? (it), come scusa?
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: o quê? (pt), como? (pt)
• Romanian: poftim? (ro)
• Russian: как-как? (kak-kak?)
• Spanish: ¿perdón? (es), ¿mande? (es) (N Mexico)
• Sranan Tongo: taki en baka
• Swedish: ursäkta? (sv)
• Tagalog: pakiulit, puwedeng pakiulit
• Telugu: మళ్ళీ చెప్పండి (maḷḷī ceppaṇḍi)

polite farewell, inviting return visit

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 歡迎再次光臨／欢迎再次光临 (huānyíng zàicì guānglín)

• Finnish: tervetuloa uudelleen
• French: au plaisir (fr)
• Garo: re·bataibo
• German: besuchen Sie uns gerne wieder, besuchen Sie uns baId wieder, kommen Sie bald wieder
• Hungarian: jöjjön/jöjjenek (el) máskor is
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: zapraszamy ponownie
• Portuguese: volte sempre
• Russian: приходи́те ещё (prixodíte ješčó)
• Spanish: será un placer volver a verle, vuelva pronto
• Swahili: karibu tena
• Swedish: välkommen åter
• Tagalog: balik ka ulit

See also

• cut and come again

Anagrams

• egomaniac