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It could be condescending, as in:
When Jim woke up from his coma since he fell when Tom Brokaw announced Gore would be President, he heard on the TV, "President Bush landed on the carrier U.S.S. Enterprise today...," to which he said to the nurse, "Bush is President?!?!"
Condescending: The nurse, taken aback by the sudden rush of words from a man silent for years, responded, "Umm... Yeah, where have you been?" She then realized her gaffe and began, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
or it could be a case of "scared to reveal": The nurse, taken aback by the sudden rush of words from a man silent and afraid that the shock he was apparently experiencing was unpredictable, responded, "Umm... Yeah, let me go get a doctor," and ran out the door.
or a case of "sympathetic delay": The nurse, taken aback by the sudden rush of words from a man silent for years but noticing the despair in the man's voice, responded, "Umm... Yeah, it took over a month before Bush's friends in the Supreme Court stopped the count."
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