pray tell

American  

[prey tel] / ˈpreɪ ˈtɛl /

verb phrase

1. (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?

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Etymology

Origin of pray tell

First recorded in 1840–45

Example Sentences

With whom from Antarctica, pray tell, did he meet?

From Washington Post • Dec. 16, 2022

Then, pray tell, where was former President George W. Bush this past election?

From Washington Times • Nov. 14, 2022

What, pray tell, had roused freedom from its slumber?

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2022

How, pray tell, had they succeeded in eluding my grasp?

From Salon • Sep. 10, 2020

“And how, pray tell, is that any of your business?”

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy