pray tell

[ prey tel ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb phrase

(used to emphasize a request for information, often to suggest that the answer is either obvious or unknowable):
You say there is no moon, but what, pray tell, rises in the sky every night?
Just what, pray tell, do those people actually do?

First recorded in 1840–45

So, what pray tell is this crucial unavoidable question that all evangelicals must answer?

So what, pray tell, does a television series about two grown men doing battle by holding hands look like?

And who, pray tell, provided the female voice on the other line?

And where, pray tell, will Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky honeymoon?

If this is what he did to a paragraph in a forgettable speech, what pray tell did he do to something that really mattered?

Pray tell me what befell you, and by what good chance you are still alive.'

"No, I have not heard it; pray tell me," said she, with an eagerness very different from her former manner.

Pray tell us your history, for it must be extraordinary; how did you venture yourself into this river, and whence did you come?'

Pray tell me if "Sentivany" is properly spelt, as I wish to write to him at the same time about the Chorus.

Pray tell Mrs. C. Hennell that no apology was needed for the very good translation she has sent me.

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