yeah, no

[Charles C Doyle]

Isn't introductory "Yeah" sometimes semantically empty--just a filler like "Hmm"?  Or perhaps signifying merely '+ politness'?

--Charlie
________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Jonathan Lighter [wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM]
Sent: Friday, July 20, 2012 9:05 AM
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There it seems to mean, "Yes indeed, and no, I wouldn't think of
contradicting you."

JL

On Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 8:53 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:


> Former NYPD detective on CNN today: "Yeah, no, you're right!"
>
> JL

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