# 這到底是什麼回事！？



## SuperXW

看香港漫畫總能，總能，總能看到這句：
這到底是什麼回事！？（甚麼回事！？）
什麼回事！？（甚麼回事！？）
什麼回事！？（甚麼回事！？）
我怎麼聽得那麼彆扭呢……
我印象中只有“怎麼回事”，哪有“什麼回事”……
本地人會認為這種說法正確嗎？算是方言嗎？是古語延用嗎？還是香港漫畫的習慣性誤用呢？是否還有非香港人認同這種講法？


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## Skatinginbc

SuperXW said:


> 我印象中只有“怎麼回事”, 哪有“什麼回事”


If we look at the grammar, 什麼回事 actually makes more sense. 
怎麼 (specifying the verb) = why, how, for what (e.g., 你怎麼不叫我?  你說該怎麼罰他? 你喚我怎麼？) 回事 = 禀告, 怎麼回事 = 怎麼禀告
什麼 (specifying the noun) = what, whatever (e.g., 你在做什麼？這是部什麼書? 這部書沒有什麼道理.) 
這到底是什麼回事！ What on earth is this?  What on earth is going on? 
Grammatically speaking, 是什麼回事 , 是怎麼回事 .  But strangely enough, 這到底是怎麼回事 is the one that we often hear.


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## SuperXW

Skatinginbc said:


> If we look at the grammar, 什麼回事 actually makes more sense.
> 怎麼 (specifying the verb) = why, how, for what (e.g., 你怎麼不叫我?  你說該怎麼罰他? 你喚我怎麼？)
> 什麼 (specifying the noun) = what, whatever (e.g., 你在做什麼？這是部什麼書? 這部書沒有什麼道理.)
> 這到底是什麼回事！ What on earth is this?
> Grammatically speaking, 什麼回事 , 怎麼回事 .  But strangely enough, 這到底是怎麼回事 is the one that we often hear.


Skating君你又把“語法邏輯”從“語言”概念中抽離出來了……你是完全不把“習慣用語”放在眼裏啊~
語言的概念包括“習慣用語”一項，和“語法邏輯”互相制衡，語法邏輯不能單獨解釋一切語言現象吧……我覺得語言可以限制語法，語法卻不能限制語言。
脫離語言限制的“語法"是不存在的，或說是錯的（也給你個大紅叉）。那不是“語言”，那什麼也不是……（不如說是計算機語言，as I said before.）
我也想過關於what和how的邏輯。不過我在港漫以外實在沒聽過“什麼回事”的講法，就連粵語，講得也是“咩事”而非“什麼回事”……


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## stevenst

As a Cantonese speaker in Hong Kong, I am certain to say that「什麼回事」is widely used and understood in formal context in HK. In informal context, as you say, we say 「咩事」instead. 「怎麼回事」is also used but we prefer 「什麼回事」. In fact, they are not that different.


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## OneStroke

stevenst said:


> As a Cantonese speaker in Hong Kong, I am certain to say that「什麼回事」is widely used and understood in formal context in HK. In informal context, as you say, we say 「咩事」instead. 「怎麼回事」is also used but we prefer 「什麼回事」. In fact, they are not that different.



or 咩一回事。


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## Skatinginbc

OneStroke said:


> or 咩一回事。


What does 回事 in 咩一回事 mean?


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## stevenst

OneStroke said:


> or 咩一回事。



Yes, it is very informal. Sometimes I think it sounds very wrong because it mixes Cantonese words with 
written words. But that's just one of the cultures of language in HK.


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## xiaolijie

Skatinginbc said:


> What does 回事 in 咩一回事 mean?


"回事" here should be taken as short for "一回事". With this, 回 is the measure word and 事 the noun.

By the way, 怎麼回事/怎麼一回事 should be taken as an idiom, and as such, its meaning is not necessarily the sum of the component parts.


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## SuperXW

网上的确能搜到很多“什么回事”，包括内地网站也使用。所以可能是被相当一部分人接受的说法。
我比较在意的就是，因为在北京见不到有人这样说，所以想知道除了香港人以外，还有哪些地区的人普遍接受这种说（写）法。北京人会觉得“very wrong”，不过可能别的地方的人不会。


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## OneStroke

SuperXW said:


> 网上的确能搜到很多“什么回事”，包括内地网站也使用。所以可能是被相当一部分人接受的说法。
> 我比较在意的就是，因为在北京见不到有人这样说，所以想知道除了香港人以外，还有哪些地区的人普遍接受这种说（写）法。北京人会觉得“very wrong”，不过可能别的地方的人不会。



話說在谷歌搜尋「什麼回事」，第一個結果就是……登登登凳……這個頁面！


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## BODYholic

SuperXW said:


> 這到底是什麼回事！？（甚麼回事！？）
> 
> 我怎麼聽得那麼彆扭呢……



In Singapore, we mostly say 什么事. So for your expression, it will be 这到底是什么事？Does it also sound awkward to you when we drop the measure word?  

I kinda agree 怎么(pronoun) usually precedes the verb. In the case of 怎么回事 (not 怎么事), it's just a short way of saying "怎么(*来*的一)回事".


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## Pierre_zane

SuperXW said:


> 网上的确能搜到很多“什么回事”，包括内地网站也使用。所以可能是被相当一部分人接受的说法。
> 我比较在意的就是，因为在北京见不到有人这样说，所以想知道除了香港人以外，还有哪些地区的人普遍接受这种说（写）法。北京人会觉得“very wrong”，不过可能别的地方的人不会。


That is not the case. I myself am from 东北, and I have never heard of “什么回事”, not even from my HK friends, all of whom frequently visit the mainland, though.
i can assure you this is absolutely unacceptable in written mandarin.


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## Skatinginbc

Pierre_zane said:


> I have never heard of “什么回事”...i can assure you this is absolutely unacceptable in written mandarin.


鲁迅《彷徨》: "除掉他，算什么一回事" http://www.eywedu.com/luxun/ph006.htm


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## Pierre_zane

Well, my apologies for my ignorance.
But as far as I am aware of, Mr. Lu Xun's language is normally taken as a hybrid developing from tradition Chinese to modern one. And most of my peers at school hate most to learn his works. 
But that is a much broader question. Back to this specific case, my daily life experience could never concur with his way of expression. And I am only speaking of my experience in 东北 and 北京, so let's see what people from other parts of China would take this.


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