says who
8
8.8
- idiom
- Informal
:
¿quién lo dice?
- "She adopted him when he was an infant." "Says who?"
- says who?" I asked
You should be ashamed to put yourself out there as an example, Says who?
- You should be ashamed to put yourself out there as an example, Says who?
- It's like says who, Like, like where you're just saying that because that's convenient to you.
- Just do Dennis Prager, Bill Maher, men menstruate and he said who says that?
Examples
-
- Says who?
-
Says who? - I know about the restraining.
-
- Says who?
-
"Says who?"
Fiction book (1991) -
It's like says who, Like, like where you're just saying that because that's convenient to you.
-
I'm not going to follow that rule. Says who that it’s necessary?
-
You think I should apologize? Says who that I've done anything wrong?
-
She insists we follow her advice, but says who that she's always right?
Synonyms
A rude question showing you do not believe someone's idea
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is directly built from 'say' + 'who' and yields the literal question 'who says (that)?', so learners who know the words will generally infer it asks for the source of a claim. However, its idiomatic pragmatic use as a dismissive or challenging rhetorical question (ellipsis and tone-dependent) is a pragmatic extension that may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Says who comes from the simple question 'Who says that?'. Imagine someone hears a rule or order and points at the speaker, asking 'says who?' to question who has the right or reason to say it.