When Problems Pass Us By: Using “You Mean” to Help Locate the Source of Trouble

Sometimes a person may require the previous speaker to repeat, explain, confirm, etc., what they have just said. Such “other-initiations of repair,” as they are called, usually come sharply. On occasion, however, they are issued some time after the offending talk has passed. This might pose a puzzle to the previous speaker who would normally expect problems to be identified immediately. This article argues that recipients can help them by signaling that their other-initiation has, for whatever reason, become separated from the source of the trouble. This is first shown for the particular practice of using “you mean … ” to check one's understanding. A variety of similar practices are then collected together to suggest that the need for managing this puzzle is quite generic and widespread. Finally, it is shown that such practices can have consequences for our understanding of repair more broadly. Examining their use allows us to refine our characterization of where other-initiations normally occur and provides evidence that this contiguous positioning is preferred over noncontiguous positioning.