diff --git a/jasper/app_utils.py b/jasper/app_utils.py
index e6d4dfc35..355bbdc11 100644
--- a/jasper/app_utils.py
+++ b/jasper/app_utils.py
@@ -5,6 +5,18 @@
 import re
 from pytz import timezone
 
+NEGATIVE = ["no", "nope", "not now", "deny", "don\'t", "stop", "end", "n"]
+POSITIVE = ["yes", "yeah", "yup", "ok(ay)?", "al(l\s)?right(y)?",
+            "(sounds\s)?good", "check", "cool", "confirm",
+            "affirm", "sure", "go", "y"]
+CANCEL = ["never(\s)?mind", "cancel"]
+REPEAT = ["repeat", "again", "what was that"]
+
+NEGATIVE = re.compile(r"\b(%s)\b" % "|".join(NEGATIVE), re.IGNORECASE)
+POSITIVE = re.compile(r"\b(%s)\b" % "|".join(POSITIVE), re.IGNORECASE)
+CANCEL = re.compile(r"\b(%s)\b" % "|".join(CANCEL), re.IGNORECASE)
+REPEAT = re.compile(r"\b(%s)\b" % "|".join(REPEAT), re.IGNORECASE)
+
 
 def send_email(SUBJECT, BODY, TO, FROM, SENDER, PASSWORD, SMTP_SERVER):
     """Sends an HTML email."""
@@ -115,8 +127,7 @@ def is_negative(phrase):
     Arguments:
         phrase -- the input phrase to-be evaluated
     """
-    return bool(re.search(r'\b(no(t)?|don\'t|stop|end|n)\b', phrase,
-                          re.IGNORECASE))
+    return check_regex(NEGATIVE, phrase)
 
 
 def is_positive(phrase):
@@ -126,6 +137,39 @@ def is_positive(phrase):
         Arguments:
         phrase -- the input phrase to-be evaluated
     """
-    return bool(re.search(r'\b(sure|yes|yeah|go|yup|y)\b',
-                          phrase,
-                          re.IGNORECASE))
+    return check_regex(POSITIVE, phrase)
+
+
+def is_cancel(phrase):
+    """
+        Returns True if the input phrase has similar meaning to cancel.
+
+        Arguments:
+        phrase -- the input phrase to-be evaluated
+    """
+    return check_regex(CANCEL, phrase)
+
+
+def is_repeat(phrase):
+    """
+        Returns True if the input phrase has similar meaning to repeat.
+
+        Arguments:
+        phrase -- the input phrase to-be evaluated
+    """
+    return check_regex(REPEAT, phrase)
+
+
+def check_regex(pattern, phrase):
+    """
+        Returns True if the input phrase has matches the supplied regex
+
+        Arguments:
+        phrase -- the input phrase to-be evaluated
+        pattern -- the regex pattern to search with
+    """
+    if not phrase:
+        return False
+    if type(phrase) is list or type(phrase) is tuple:
+        phrase = " ".join(phrase)
+    return bool(pattern.search(phrase))
diff --git a/jasper/local_mic.py b/jasper/local_mic.py
index 34fd13c0f..6e997651f 100644
--- a/jasper/local_mic.py
+++ b/jasper/local_mic.py
@@ -25,3 +25,13 @@ def listen(self):
 
     def say(self, phrase, OPTIONS=None):
         print("JASPER: %s" % phrase)
+
+    def ask(self, question):
+        """
+            Asks a questions and then returns the response
+
+            Arguments:
+            question -- the question to ask
+        """
+        self.say(question)
+        return self.active_listen()
diff --git a/jasper/mic.py b/jasper/mic.py
index fd9653cd1..fb9baedeb 100644
--- a/jasper/mic.py
+++ b/jasper/mic.py
@@ -214,12 +214,26 @@ def play_file(self, filename):
                                       add_padding=self._output_padding)
 
     def say(self, phrase):
+        if type(phrase) is list or type(phrase) is tuple:
+            for words in phrase:
+                self.say(words)
+            return
         altered_phrase = alteration.clean(phrase)
         with tempfile.SpooledTemporaryFile() as f:
             f.write(self.tts_engine.say(altered_phrase))
             f.seek(0)
             self._output_device.play_fp(f)
 
+    def ask(self, question):
+        """
+            Asks a questions and then returns the response
+
+            Arguments:
+            question -- the question to ask
+        """
+        self.say(question)
+        return self.active_listen()
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)
diff --git a/jasper/testutils.py b/jasper/testutils.py
index 2bf022f84..3cb944f33 100644
--- a/jasper/testutils.py
+++ b/jasper/testutils.py
@@ -30,6 +30,16 @@ def active_listen(self, timeout=3):
     def say(self, phrase):
         self.outputs.append(phrase)
 
+    def ask(self, question):
+        """
+            Asks a questions and then returns the response
+
+            Arguments:
+            question -- the question to ask
+        """
+        self.say(question)
+        return self.active_listen()
+
 
 def get_plugin_instance(plugin_class, *extra_args):
     info = type('', (object,), {