what is the meaning of "what now" and "now what" ?
I heard these phrases from Movies.
I wonder what they mean ...
Please help me out.
2006-11-24 23:12:50 · 7 answers · asked by Stan 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
These two expressions "what now" and "now what" have generally the same meanings however, the emphasis is slightly shifted.
In the first instance one could say when confronted with a problem "What now?" as a genuine question meaning "What do we do now?" This is generally what this first expression means however, when you are angry and the door has rung several times by the same people you turned away and you open the door and you say "What now?" You could be angry that they have come back.
The other expression "now what" is where the emphasis is on NOW rather than WHAT. You generally might know WHAT the problem is...or is linked up to, but then an addition is added to the problem. As if to say, yesterday, or 10 mins ago, or 2 secs ago someone pointed out a problem to you and they come back after having done so a few times, which makes you build up an idea that all they ever do is bring problems your way so you turn to these people and say NOW what?? This will be to indicate a certain kind of fed-upness on your part.
If the expression "now what" is used in a sentence such as "now what do we do" it can be rendered completely neutral. If the oven breaks and i need to make a christmas cake, i can ring my hands in despair and say "now what do we do" without being rude or offensive or angry...just maybe a little panicky. What i've done is i've given you the meanings of the two expressions as you've given
2006-11-25 00:50:36 · answer #1 · answered by Wisdom 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"What now is used to ask "What is going to happen now?" or "What happens now?", as if you are wondering what to anticipate in the near future. Someone has asked you to pick up a 500 pound weight, then says nothing more. Clearly, the question to use is: "What now?" (you are asking for the next event in the sequence....as if the other person will tell you to put it down again!)
"Now what?" is a question used to ask "What do you want now?"
As if someone keeps calling you, asking you questions. After a couple dozen calls, you will have to ask: "What now?"...What do you want NOW?
2006-11-25 10:22:57 · answer #2 · answered by gg 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In my best guess they can't be interpreted directly because they are an abbreviation... "what now" is a question asking "what is going to happen now?" and "now what" is a similar question asking "now what is going to happen?" hope this helps.
2006-11-25 07:18:20 · answer #3 · answered by Michael C 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
in addition to what the other ppl said, "what now" and "now what" can also be used with a competitive edge. like if your playing against a person in a game and their talking a lot of smack and you win and say "now what" or "what now" it would be like say "what you go to say now" or "now, what you got to say"
2006-11-25 09:50:58 · answer #4 · answered by bluebird_chica 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
now what and what now has the same meaning, we say it when we are dealing with something bad and something worst happen
2006-11-25 07:20:49 · answer #5 · answered by DEATHMETAL 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What now = What do you want now??? I told you a couple of time its enough.
Now What = She keeps on calling me and calling me, Now what does she want???
2006-11-25 08:03:12 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means : "what happens now ? What should we do now ?"
Soemtimes when it's said in an angry or bored situation it means : "What does he/she want now?"
2006-11-25 07:18:53 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋