system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5 : why does the brain sometimes take a moment to process words?

I’ve noticed, for years, when talking to people, if I say something, at times they’ll say “what?” like they didn’t hear me. Then reply accordingly without me having to repeat anything. It happens to me too. So, what is the delay and why does it take a split second to process?
gpt
Basically, at the same time the person said "what?" because their conscious mind didn't quite get it the first time, their brain was still analyzing the sound, and right after they said "what" their brain automatically listened to the short term memory of the sound a couple more times and eventually figured out what the words were.