Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Swim4life]

Please look at the following dialogues:

A: So, if you're not going out with your ex, who's the new girl?
B: Wouldn't you like to know. Actually, I've been seeing a great girl.

I understand from the context that �Wouldn�t you like to know� means �I would not tell you. It�s none of your business.� It�s my the first time to see this expression. Is it common used by the native speakers? Thanks

[CP]

Oh, so you are asking whether the expression is common and used by native speakers? Wouldn't YOU like to know?

I know something you don't know, nah nah-na nah nah. Maybe I'll tell you and maybe I won't. What'll you give me? Are you going to invite me to your birthday party?

Okay, if you promise, I'll tell you. It's so common, even children say it. Everyone knows it.

There. I told you. Now you know.

When's your birthday party?
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Swim4life]

Thanks CP. I understand now. But it�s difficult to explain it to my students who have been used to the other sentences starting with �Wouldn�t you like�� I mean, it looks more like a rhetorical question in a polite way. Do you have another way to say this expression? Maybe you can change the structure a little. Thanks.

[CP]

Of course, when your students ask you about it, you could just say, "Wouldn't YOU like to know?"

I can understand how a student might be flummoxed by it, when it is so different from, "Wouldn't you like to own that house?" or, "Wouldn't you like a trip to Hawaii?" As you said, "I mean, it looks more like a rhetorical question in a polite way," or even in a teasing way, but sometimes in a dismissive way. to mean, "Don't bother asking; I'm not telling you."

For example, suppose your girlfriend's ex-boyfriend stops you and asks you where she is. You don't like him and you don't intend to help him find her, so you say, "Wouldn't you like to know." More of a statement than a question, and not in a lighthearted way. He knows you mean that it is none of his business, so don't ask.

As for other ways to say it, or changing the structure, it is a common expression, an idiom, so it doesn't really vary. Usually, when used in a teasing way, the "you" is stressed, as I wrote it: "Wouldn't YOU like to know?"

Instead of the stock phrase, you might hear an adult say something like, "Well, aren't YOU the curious one?" or, "I wouldn't think YOU care about that!" But again, it would be in a teasing way, and most likely the person would get the information pretty soon.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Swim4life]

Great Job! Thanks CP.