News:

And we're back!

Main Menu

Yeah, no, I agree

Started by MadImmortalMan, November 13, 2014, 05:16:21 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

MadImmortalMan

Why do people say "yeah no" when agreeing, or even sometimes even disagreeing with others? Is this related to the "ending every sentence with a question mark" (valley girl) thing people sometimes do in order to seem less assertive and nonthreatening? Or call it passive-aggressive maybe.


Listening to various things (TV pundits, radio, podcasts) I've begun noticing the "yeah, no" thing is beginning to stick out. I guess since I started noticing it, it no longer just flies by and I hear it all the damn time.
"Stability is destabilizing." --Hyman Minsky

"Complacency can be a self-denying prophecy."
"We have nothing to fear but lack of fear itself." --Larry Summers

Admiral Yi


Jacob

I've only heard it as disagreement, and it's come across like this:

"Yeah" = "I heard what you said and acknowledge it"/ "I'm thinking about what you just said"/ a simple cadence device (basically a slightly more articulate "uhmmm")

"No" = response to the question.

I guess in the case of a "yeah no, I agree" the "I heard you"/"I'm thinking"/cadence device function has expanded to be "yeah no" instead of just "yeah", and "I agree" is the actual substance of the reply.

Sheilbh

I say it. I also say the more rare 'no, no' in the same way, not for emphasis. I also have a bad habit of starting sentences with 'no' :blush:
Let's bomb Russia!

Tonitrus

"yeah, no" by itself, has the very acidic, patronizing "no" feel about it. 

I've always felt the "yeah, no, I agree" uses the "no" as a kind of emphasis...as if the "yeah" starts as half-hearted agreement, but then the  "no, I agree" part uses the "no" to remove any implied doubt and strengthen the agreement.

It makes little sense, but then it is english.  :P

MadImmortalMan

Quote from: Sheilbh on November 13, 2014, 05:23:17 PM
I say it. I also say the more rare 'no, no' in the same way, not for emphasis. I also have a bad habit of starting sentences with 'no' :blush:

Do you think it's a communication device or just an affectation?

Like when people end a sentence that isn't a question with an upward inflection like a question, they are usually making an assertion. And maybe that question-ey inflection is a way to tone down the aggressive nature of making an assertion.

Does the "no" have a use of that nature or is it just maybe a mental pause like umm or like or one of those things?
"Stability is destabilizing." --Hyman Minsky

"Complacency can be a self-denying prophecy."
"We have nothing to fear but lack of fear itself." --Larry Summers

Tonitrus

Quote from: MadImmortalMan on November 13, 2014, 05:28:22 PM
Quote from: Sheilbh on November 13, 2014, 05:23:17 PM
I say it. I also say the more rare 'no, no' in the same way, not for emphasis. I also have a bad habit of starting sentences with 'no' :blush:

Do you think it's a communication device or just an affectation?

Like when people end a sentence that isn't a question with an upward inflection like a question, they are usually making an assertion. And maybe that question-ey inflection is a way to tone down the aggressive nature of making an assertion.

Does the "no" have a use of that nature or is it just maybe a mental pause like umm or like or one of those things?

Often I see that also when someone thinks they know/believe something, but are leaving room for doubt and inviting opinion/discussion.

MadImmortalMan

Quote from: Tonitrus on November 13, 2014, 05:24:56 PM

I've always felt the "yeah, no, I agree" uses the "no" as a kind of emphasis...as if the "yeah" starts as half-hearted agreement, but then the  "no, I agree" part uses the "no" to remove any implied doubt and strengthen the agreement.

This makes sense. At least when used during agreement.
"Stability is destabilizing." --Hyman Minsky

"Complacency can be a self-denying prophecy."
"We have nothing to fear but lack of fear itself." --Larry Summers

PRC

I say it as well, but i've only noticed this becoming a thing in the past two years.  Don't really recall hearing it before then.

Ed Anger

Still less annoyinging than message board posters using.....

"This"

Lazy young people.
Stay Alive...Let the Man Drive

CountDeMoney

Quote from: Ed Anger on November 13, 2014, 05:53:05 PM
Still less annoyinging than message board posters using.....

"This"

Lazy young people.

This.

lustindarkness

Grand Duke of Lurkdom

Ed Anger

I'd flunk you both in my Supply Chain Management class.
Stay Alive...Let the Man Drive

garbon

Thinking about my use of "yeah, no, I agree" I think I tend to use it when someone has been emphatically pushing a point that I agree with and don't need convincing of.

When just "yeah, no" as a sign of disagreement, I'm generally being jokingly condescending.
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Tonitrus

For the simple "yeah, no"....that exists in Russian as well, "da, nyet".  Where the "da" doesn't so much mean "yes" as it does simple acknowledgment of the point/assertion before filing the disagreement.