Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Confirmed: Sometimes the real question isn't the one we're asked. There's a branch of linguistics, called pragmatics, that deals with the relationships between what is actually said and what is meant and understood in such exchanges. But in this case it's also an etiquette issue. If you know what the questioner is asking for, and you have an equal interest in completing the exchange, why pretend that you don't understand what "confirm" means? That's what kids do in those thrilling weeks when they've just learned to annoy you by answering requests like "Could you pass the salt?" by saying, "Well, yeah, I could…"