Shaking his head "yes" (heard on the Olympics)

[Charles Doyle]

Many years ago I first heard (from native English speakers) the construction "shake his head 'yes'"--which seemed truly odd and inefficient, since the "nod"/"shake" distinction is so clear (to me).

I discover from Googling that the construction is mentoned in the Morrises' _Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage_ (1985).

The different customs for gesturing "yes" and "no" are a whole nother matter . . . .

--Charlie
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---- Original message ----
>Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2008 15:59:57 -0500
>From: Barbara Need <bhneed at GMAIL.COM>
>
>The female commentator on NBC's Olympic coverage just described someone as "shaking his head "yes" (while we saw footage of him doing what I would call nodding) and then added that during an earlier dive the same man "nodded his head "no, no, no"! The commentator is, I believe a native speaker of English (with no perceptible accent to this Northern/Northeastern USAn). The man she was describing was the coach of one of the American divers--and he looked Anglo, at least, so I am guessing he is an American. (Maybe named Kenny Armstrong?)
>
>It is true that in other cultures, the gestures I describe as nodding (chin down and up) and shaking (turning the head left and right) are interpreted differently (a quick Google search said that Bulgarians interpret these gestures opposite to what we do). But I don't think that is a contributing factor.
>
>Thoughts?
>
>Barbara
>
>Barbara Need
>Chicago
>
>P.S. So far, all further tokens of "tonight" or "this evening" I have heard have been uttered by announcers, so those are probably intentional. I have heard no further athlete generate it. I will keep listening.

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