tell me

tell me

A set phrase used to introduce a question, especially when trying to obtain personal information. Tell me, do you feel your relationship with your mother has influenced your relationships with other people?
See also: tell
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

tell me

Also, tell me about it. I know, I agree with you, as in Since the layoffs I have been overloaded with work-Tell me! or We had a hard time finding the place.-Tell me about it! It took me all morning. Identical to a literal request to be told about something, this expression must be distinguished from it by the context and the speaker's tone. [Colloquial; second half of 1900s]
See also: tell
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

ˈtell me

(spoken) used to introduce a question: Tell me, have you had lunch yet?
See also: tell
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • How long is a piece of string?
  • how/what about...?
  • how about
  • (one's) best foot forward
  • best foot forward
  • eggs is eggs
  • from my cold, dead hands
  • kicking and screaming
  • open sesame
  • a penny for them
References in classic literature
"Dolly, darling, he has spoken to me, but I want to hear it from you: tell me about it."
Anna Karenina
'Tell me all about it again,' cried Peg, with a malicious relish of her old master's defeat, which made her natural hideousness something quite fearful; 'let's hear it all again, beginning at the beginning now, as if you'd never told me.
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
He added: "Look at the players we have - you tell me Ben Stokes isn't a world-class player who can win the game with bat and ball.
Root stays upbeat - despite the Test woes of England
Also consider that they Were born between 1981 and 1997 (everyone seems to use slightly Different years, but those are the ones used by the Pew Research Center, so that's good enough for me), and I dare you to tell me that an 18-year-old millennial has much in Common with one who's 34.
Stop talkin' 'bout my generation: marketers must dig deeper into the term millennial for truly valuable insight about the vast and diverse group
Somewhere near the end of "Tell Me on a Sunday," the 75-minute self-help soapbox masquerading as a musical that was once the "Song" part of the two-act Andrew Lloyd Webber/Don Black show "Song and Dance," an overriding question begins to nag: Have the creators of this sung-through lamentation about a lovesick Essex girl on her own in Manhattan ever been to New York?
"Tell Me on a Sunday" has in fact played New York, in the 1985 Broadway run of "Song and Dance" that earned Bernadette Peters the first of her two Tonys as the hapless Emma.
More irksome is "Tell Me's" amplified self-importance, a function no doubt of the piece now having to stand on its own as opposed to anticipating a second-act ballet that was choreographed by Anthony Van Laast in London and Peter Martins on Broadway.
Tell Me on a Sunday