Like...what?

One of my colleague’s wife’s birthday was on a Sunday. Nothing exceptional about that. He took her to a fancy restaurant and gave her a gift. Nothing exceptional about that too. What is exceptional was the way he narrated it. His lack of vocabulary coupled with conversational trends was amusing, at the least, and exasperating, at the most.

People:  VD (my colleague who had taken his wife out for lunch), SA (a female colleague) and me

This is how it went:

VD: It is like this. I took my wife to XXXX (name of the restaurant). We at a good food. Then I gave her a gift. She was…like…what?
Me: She was surprised?
VD: No, not only surprised.  She was…like….what?

This time, his intonation of ‘what’ was slightly different. Still, SA and I were lost.

Me: She did not like it?
VD: No, she took it. But she was…like…what? (This time, again, the way he said ‘what’ was different)
Me: Was she….
SA: (interrupting) Let him tell in complete, Anant.
Me: I am trying to give a name to his wife’s frame of mind, that’s what I am doing, SA. Have you understood how she was feeling?
VD: I like that. So, she was like ….what…why now?
Me: (venturing into what could be a minefield) So, she was doubting your intentions?
VD: You are my friend. She was doubting but also surprised. What is that word in English?
Me: Suspicious?
VD: There you go. I told you, she was ….like …..what?

Things I learnt out of this conversation:

1.       Doubting and surprise adds up to suspicion
2.       I should not interrupt people. In other words, I should let them ‘say in complete’
3.       The simple word ‘what’ has come to signify a lot of feelings while I was under a rock
4.       Point no. 3 is true only when the ‘what’ is preceded by a ‘like’