首をかしげるばかり

日本人にその文だけ言っても首を傾げる ばかりでしょうね。

What does it mean to say the neck is tilted in giving a Japanese person just one sentence ? That their interpretation will be naturally be unnatural and easily distorted, I suppose....

Hey Elizabeth!

I had a quick search on this one, before, I'd generally assumed it meant that someone was confused about something (in my head that gesture always goes together with 「さあ、ね。。」 when someone's unsure about something. I imagine it as corresponding to a shrug of the shoulders..

This is from Goo's dictionary, (you'll need to scroll down towards the end a bit)

の検索結果 - 和英辞書
(to show (a state of) doubt, incomplete understanding)

and an example found on google,
「点数は？の質問にもクビ傾げるしかナシ」

So, I think that sentence could mean
"Even if you say that to a Japanese person, they'll just shrug their shoulders/look confused/not be able to figure it out"

maybe if the sentence was unnatural, or old, or strange japanese..

Hope that helps! as ever, I might be completely wrong..

ぁ！ もう１つ見つけた！

小首をかしげる- **** one's head in thought. So it could be a good sentence, but just one that requires a lot of deep thought..

Hello, Elizabeth.
Thank you for always teaching English to me.
いつも私に英語を教えてくれて、ありがとうございます。

Elizabeth said:

日本人にその文だけ言っても首を傾げる ばかりでしょうね。

Click to expand...

It is very good. I think that you accurately understand the meaning of 「首を傾げるばかり」.
とても良いですよ(^_^) 私は、あなたが「首を傾げるばかり」の意味を、正確に理解していると思います。

参考例）あなたが彼に「返せ」とだけ言っても、彼は何をあなたに返せばいいのか解らないから、首を傾げるばかりでしょうね。

What does it mean to say the neck is tilted in giving a Japanese person just one sentence ?
その「首を傾げた」という表現は、日本の人に渡す文章としては、適切なものでしょうか？

That their interpretation will be naturally be unnatural and easily distorted, I suppose....
彼らの解釈は不自然ですが、ちょっと変えれば自然なものになるだろう……と、私は思っているということです。