The Hamlet Project

This sentence structure reminds me of the way non-native English speakers ask for a definition. Of course, the meaning is nothing like this, actually – but it calls to mind for me, the many time I’ve heard: “How call you the thing for the rain?”
“What you say to stop someone?”
“How say you the word for wonder?”
“Can you splain me this?”
“What this say?”
“Mean what this?”