yeah, no

[Laurence Horn]

On Jul 20, 2012, at 2:00 PM, Paul Johnston wrote:

> Speakers of continental Germanic languages often have "Ja, ja!" uttered quickly with a low falling intonation to signal sarcastic "Yeah, right!".  I've heard the equivalent in English too, but less commonly.
> 
> Paul Johnston

The force of these examples is somewhat diminished by the fact that sarcasm can be equally well conveyed by a single "Yeah!" or "Right" or "Sure (it is)", while it's harder to get a single negative to convey a positive. And when a double negative does convey a positive, it's usually not conveyed by "No, no".  Although there are exceptions…

But grammar’s force with sweet success confirm: 
For grammar says (O this dear Stella weigh,)
For grammar says (to grammar who says nay)         
That in one speech two negatives affirm.                 
 —Sir Philip Sidney, "To his Mistress who has Said           
      ‘No, No’", from Astrophel and Stella, c. 1580                              
     

LH

> On Jul 20, 2012, at 1:35 PM, Charles C Doyle wrote:
> 
>> ---------------------- 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
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 
>> 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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