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

Thu Oct 26 18:25:11 UTC 2017

I don't see where "Don't you agree it's embarrassing?" was asked.

I see "...it's kind of embarrassing for the Democrats. Isn't it?", and in
that context I think the answer makes sense.

DanG

On Thu, Oct 26, 2017 at 1:01 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I don't follow you.
>
> The question to be answered is, "Don't you agree it's embarrassing?" Ans.:
> "No, it *is* embarrassing."
>
> JL
>
> On Thu, Oct 26, 2017 at 12:50 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
>
> > Aha.  I missed the contrastive stress on *is* on first reading.  On
> second
> > reading: No, I agree with Dan.
> >
> > LH
> >
> > > On Oct 26, 2017, at 11:45 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> wrote:
> > >
> > > I read it differently.
> > >
> > > The question was, " it's kind of embarrassing for the Democrats. Isn't
> > it?"
> > >
> > > The answer was, "No, it *is* embarrassing." I read that as "No, it's
> not
> > > *kind of* embarrassing, it *is* embarrassing."
> > >
> > >
> > > DanG
> > >
> > > On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 7:43 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu
> >
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > >>> On Oct 25, 2017, at 7:06 PM, Jonathan Lighter <
> wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.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.”
> > >>>
> > >>> I don't see "No, it is" as a possibility.  In fact, it seems totally
> > >>> impossible to me.
> > >>>
> > >>> JL
> > >>
> > >> Agreed; plus I’m not sure where the fail is in answering “Isn’t it?”
> > >> negatively by responding “No, it isn’t”.  What’s more complicated is
> if
> > the
> > >> original question doesn’t have a contraction.  As an answer to “Did
> you
> > not
> > >> remember to take out the trash?” I can imagine either “No, I DID
> > remember”
> > >> or “No, I didn’t remember”.   But if the question had been “Didn’t you
> > >> remember to take out the trash?” only the latter is possible (or, of
> > course
> > >> “Yes, I remembered”).
> > >>
> > >> LH
> > >>>
> > >>> 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@
> 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."-----------------------
> > >>>> -------------------------------------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."
> > >>>>
> > >>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
> > >>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org<
> > >>>> http://www.americandialect.org>
> > >>>>
> > >>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
> > >>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >>>>
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> --
> > >>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > >> truth."
> > >>>
> > >>> ------------------------------------------------------------
> > >>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >>
> > >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> > >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >>
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org