Et alors ?

3. Et alors ?
pronounced more or less: Ay ah lohr
Essentially expresses one of two possible postures: 1) "So what? Why are you telling me this? It's not important... (to me)" or 2)"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand???!"
Literal translation: "And so?" / "And then?"
Implications: "Big deal (that would be of interest to me because...?)" or "would you please get to the point (if you have one)."
May be accompanied by a shoulder shrug and a disinterested or puzzled look.
Remark: "Et alors?" is not necessarily dismissive. The speaker may sincerely be asking for an explanation or for more information.

Example One: One summer evening we were out on the terrace, a bottle of champagne on the table and glasses in hand. The couple that lives upstairs -- lovely people on occasion albeit nombrilists par excellence -- stopped by to say hello on their way down the road to water their garden. Salut, salut, bisous, bisous...then we explained that we were celebrating the birth of my son's daughter. They don't know my son. Not missing a beat, and without a single comment or question, the gentleman expressed a disinterested "et alors?"and started talking about their grand-daughter, who was expecting a baby in September. Alas, a true story...

(The baby, by the way, is healthy, beautiful...and curious about life around her.)

Example Two: Imagine yourself out about town. You run into your former neighbors George and Georgette, whom you rarely see since moving. You catch up then fall silent, not really having anything to add but not quite ready to say goodbye to each other. George drops this by way of conversation: "that news on TV last night...wow! Jean-Marc won!" You don't have a television and don't know anyone named Jean-Marc, so you stand there waiting for George to continue, to explain. He doesn't. He's waiting for you to make a comment about the sensational news, which he assumes you know because he does. (Franchement...) Finally since nothing's clear or going anywhere, you say: "Et alors? What's the scoop? I don't have a TV and who's JM anyway?"... inviting George to go on with his story.

(Et bien oui, you guessed it, another true story: turns out that Jean-Marc is the son of a woman G&G knew in their childhood days. He and his wife just won big in the lottery.)