Listen up or Hear out.

[Ashraful Haque]

Today I said 'listen up' to someone I met for the first time. Even though it was a very casual and fun conversation. The other person said something before I could finish my sentence so I said 'listen up first' instead of 'hear me out.'

I was wondering if it was bit rude, cause I always hear 'listen up' in movies when someone is commanding someone to listen to them.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's a little impolite, yes. "Listen up first" doesn't work. It's just "Listen up". Also, it's not an appropriate phrase to use just because someone interrupted you. Even "Hear me out" could be considered impolite, although if you were talking to a friend and it was, as you said, a casual fun conversation, they probably wouldn't mind.

My favourite thing to do when someone interrupts me is to simply stop talking, wait until they finish speaking, and then I go right back to the start of what I was saying and hope that this time they'll let me get to the end. I've done this multiple times (with just one sentence) with one particular relative who seems to be incapable of not interrupting.

 

[Tdol]

If they're interrupting you, hear me out works better for me. I'd use listen up to people who I thought weren't paying attention.

 

[jutfrank]

I'd say that listen up just doesn't work at all in that context. I think of it as used only when you want to get somebody's attention in order to tell them something important or give them an instruction.

In your situation, you could have said Let me finish.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

I'd say that listen up just doesn't work at all in that context. I think of it as used only when you want to get somebody's attention in order to tell them something important or give them an instruction.

In your situation, you could have said Let me finish.

I think I get it. No wonder the captain in every war movie says that when he wants the boys to pay attention.

 

[Tarheel]

I think I get it. No wonder the captain in every war movie says that when he wants the boys to pay attention.

They probably stand at attention when he says that.

 

[Tdol]

I think I get it. No wonder the captain in every war movie says that when he wants the boys to pay attention.

You'd worry about a leader in a war who wanted the soldiers to hear him out.