yeah, no

[Jonathan Lighter]

Ben's links show just how complex "Yeah, no" really is.  There's more than
one kind.

JL

On Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 11:03 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: yeah, no
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Jul 20, 2012, at 9:28 AM, Charles C Doyle wrote:
>
> > Isn't introductory "Yeah" sometimes semantically empty--just a filler
> like "Hmm"?  Or perhaps signifying merely '+ politness'?
> >
> > --Charlie
>
> Maybe sometimes, but not obviously in Jon's example (which isn't unique),
> where a simple "No, you're right" would strike me as a bit odd.  I confess
> that as a non-native "Yeah, no" speaker, I'm not sure I have a handle on
> what it's doing.
>
> LH
> > ________________________________________
> > 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
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > 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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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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