yeah, no

[Charles C Doyle]

Who was the philosopher who, responding to a lecturer who declared that two negatives can signify a positive but two positives can never import a negative, muttered, "Yeah, yeah"?

(I just checked my YBQ; it was Sidney Morgenbesser.)

--Charlie

________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Laurence Horn [laurence.horn at YALE.EDU]
Sent: Friday, July 20, 2012 1:12 PM
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Jul 20, 2012, at 12:58 PM, Sam Raker wrote:

> I don't think the "yeah" is 'empty,' although whether its content is 'semantic' is really a question of, well, semantics. My gut instincts tell me the "yeah" contributes something along the lines of, "I can see how you might think that, but..." or a sarcastic "I can see how YOU might think that, but..."
>
> -Sam

i.e. "Yeah, right.  No,…"?

LH
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>> From: Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
>> Date: July 20, 2012 12:21:01 PM EDT
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: Re: yeah, no
>> Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: yeah, no
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> And, of course, there's the immortal "Yes, we have no bananas . . . ."
>>
>> --Charlie
>>
>> ________________________________________
>> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Joel S. Berson [Berson at ATT.NET]
>> Sent: Friday, July 20, 2012 12:12 PM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> At 7/20/2012 12:02 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>> Ben's links show just how complex "Yeah, no" really is.  There's more than
>>> one kind.
>>
>> And he's not even including the Japanese response to a question posed
>> in the negative.  Which I as a non-native don't understand too.
>>
>> Joel
>>
>>
>>> 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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