The Irreversible Decline of "Pardon?"

Except in the extremely dubious circus of Presidential whim, the word "Pardon" is swiftly disappearing from modern speech, especially its employment as an indication that a voice in conversation has not been heard correctly. Nowadays most miscommunications are concluded with either an ignorant "What?", an irritable sounding "Sorry?", or most uncivil of all, the bovine "Eh?"
Almost nobody responds with a polite, "Pardon?" anymore. This is because it's all about apportioning blame for the mishearing these days, and saying "Pardon?" makes it seem like it's your fault; the antiquated and subservient response of an out-moded, worthless old duffer who should swap his ear trumpet for an hearing aide so that he can be told to clear out his desk. Any high-energy achiever worth his weight in iPhones replies with a barked "Excuse me?", implying that his pathetic interlocutor simply wasn't speaking loudly enough to begin with.
Ultimately, a "Pardon" is begged by an insignificant nobody, whereas an "Excuse me?" is demanded by a superior being.
Personally, I usually exclaim, with an unmistakably insouciant tone, "You're going to have to repeat that. I'm afraid I  wasn't listening."

Comments

[OutOfContext]

I blame Steve Martin.