[Ads-l] No = 'yes; truly'

[Jonathan Lighter]

> Barron-Lopez was answering the question “Isn’t it?”  Since the
(apparently) correct answer was “It is,” she could have answered either
“Yes, it is” or “No, it is.”

I don't see "No, it is" as a possibility.  In fact, it seems totally
impossible to me.

JL

On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 3:07 PM, Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:

> Barron-Lopez was answering the question “Isn’t it?”  Since the
> (apparently) correct answer was “It is,” she could have answered either
> “Yes, it is” or “No, it is.”  English seems to fail when the correct answer
> to “Isn’t it?” is “It is not.”
>
>
> John Baker
>
>
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> Of Jonathan Lighter
> Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 12:31 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: No = 'yes; truly'
>
> External Email - Think Before You Click
>
>
> John King, CNN: But, politically, it's kind of embarrassing for the
> Democrats. Isn't it?
>
> Laura Barron-Lopez, _Washington Examiner_ (b. ca.1990?): No, it *is*
> embarrassing. It's another thing that's added to the long list of why can't
> the Clinton campaign, you know, say what they're doing or be honest about
> something.
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, Nov 7, 2016 at 7:21 AM, Berson at att.net<mailto:Berson at att.net> <
> Berson at att.net<mailto:Berson at att.net>> wrote:
>
> > No, no, no, no, no ... yes.
> >
> >
> > Joel
> >
> > Sent from my Verizon 4G LTE Smartphone
> >
> > ------ Original message------
> > *From: *Jonathan Lighter
> > *Date: *Sun, Nov 6, 2016 3:02 PM
> > *To: *ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:*ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>;
> > *Subject:*Re: [ADS-L] No = 'yes; truly'
> >
> > Chuck Todd on _Meet the Press_: "They were huge for Obama, [but]
> they'vebeen stagnant this cycle."Tom Brokaw: "No, they have been."Brokaw
> went on to elaborate the stagnation.JLJLOn Wed, May 4, 2016 at 11:56 PM,
> Wilson Gray wrote:> On Wed, May 4, 2016 at 12:18 PM, Jonathan Lighter >
> wrote:>> > On Sun, May 1, 2016 at 9:03 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:> >> > > Is
> this a variant?> > >> > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5GSq4Hea6E<
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5GSq4Hea6E>> >>> So, it's *not* a
> variant. The Magic version is commonplace among the> colored. Yeah, naw.>>>
> --> -Wilson> -----> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a
> strange complaint to> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.>
> -Mark Twain>> ------------------------------------------------------------>
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org<
> http://www.americandialect.org>>-- "If the truth is half as bad as I
> think it is, you can't handle the truth."-----------------------
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> >
> >
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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> http://www.americandialect.org>
>
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"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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