[Grammar] Now that you mention/mentioned it......

Can anyone out there explain the meaning of the phrase " Now that you mention/mentioned it"?

Example: Todd: What's it like having a roommate?
Keri: It's good. It's good. I like living alone too but sometimes it's nice to come home and have someone there and my roommate gets home before I do and she likes to cook so often she's cooked dinner for me.
Todd: Wow, that's nice.
Keri: I know.
Todd: Well, you do all the cleaning?
Keri: Well, now that you mention it, I do a lot of the cleaning, but not all of it. Oh, OK.

It suggests it wasn't a topic Keri had expected to talk about or that she wants to answer without sounding critical of her room-mate.

Dear Teachers.

Keri: Well, now that you mention it, I do a lot of the cleaning, but not all of it. Oh, OK.

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What does Keri mean by saying "Oh, OK."? What is OK?

I know this is unrelated to the thread, I apologise for that.
Thank you for your help.

Best wishes


AlJapone

AlJapone said:

What does Keri mean by saying "Oh, OK."? What is OK?

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He is probably implying that he does actually do all the cleaning. His 'OK' is an acknowledgement that Todd probably realised this when he asked the question.

fivejedjon said:

He is probably implying that he does actually do all the cleaning. His 'OK' is an acknowledgement that Todd probably realised this when he asked the question.

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Or it could actually be Todd's last line that somehow got stuck onto Keri's.

fivejedjon said:

He is probably implying that he does actually do all the cleaning. His 'OK' is an acknowledgement that Todd probably realised this when he asked the question.

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I see. So the fact embarrassed him. Do you think he felt some clash between his cleaning and male gender role and got embarrassed?

Raymott said:

Or it could actually be Todd's last line that somehow got stuck onto Keri's.

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Does this means native speakers feel an abrupt change of tone there?
Thank you so much for quick replies, fivejedjon and Raymott.

Best wishes


AlJapone

AlJapone said:

I see. So the fact embarrassed him. Do you think he felt some clash between his cleaning and male gender role and got embarrassed?
Possibly, but more likely he admitted that either he had been landed with one (presumably unpleasant) job that he hadn't thought of before or his roommate was not as perfect as he had portrayed her.

Does this means native speakers feel an abrupt change of tone there?
If my reading is correct, then the words "Oh, OK" will be uttered with a resigned/embarrassed tone, accompanied possibly by a shrug of the shoulders.

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5

I am grateful for your detailed answer.

So native speakers imagine something like this from just the two words?

Yeah, of course! You've got to do your share of house work if you want to get along well with your roommate. So I volunteered to do some cleaning, you know... Yes, it's a lie. I hate to do cleaning, but it can't be helped. To tell the truth, she is ...

Best wishes,


AlJapone

AlJapone said:

So native speakers imagine something like this from just the two words?

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It's not as simple, or complicated, as that.

In the real-life situation, both speakers have some knowledge of the situation being discussed, and of each other's characters.Throughout the conversation, they are aware , sometimes subconsciously, of the stress and intonation patterns in their own words and those of the person they are speaking too. They are also aware of each other's facial expressions and body language.

When an outsider tries to explain the situation to someone who has no previous knowledge of it or the people concerned, it may take a lot of words.

Imagine a situation in which a man comes home and walks into his living room. His wife looks up with a questioning look on her face. He shakes his head sadly, and she bursts into tears. They both know exactly what is going on, but a novelist could write a couple of hundred pages to give the readers a full understanding of what has taken place.

If that is the case, judging by the fact that you understood the situation only through those two written words, you might have had experienced somewhat similar situation yourself; or rather, it seems most likely that you had gained some appropriate knowledge to understand the implication through fictional works. At least I cannot imagine, fivejedjon, your avater is enjoying doing cleaning.

Best wishes


AlJapone

EDIT: I apologise britdam007 for hijacking your thread asking unrelated questions. I am sorry. And I thank you again, fivejedjon, for your insightful replies.