Individual Words Don’t Make Or Break The Conversation
While on vacation visiting family in Hong Kong, it has become more acutely apparent that successful communication extends beyond the words you can and cannot say. We have a tendency to assume that the pronunciation matters most but I continue to be reminded that communication is much more than the pronunciation.
I can fumble my way through Cantonese.
I have decent pronunciation when I actually speak. But my sentence structure is awkward. My word choice is poor and often times a direct translation of the English counterpart and my phrasing is clunky. My colloquial slang vocabulary is limited.
And I think that these extra things beyond the vowel and consonant sounds, also known as suprasegmental features, make it challenging to blend in with local speakers.
And that led me to think about English and the confusing things that we have in English.
For example:
Yeah = Yes and No = No, but you put them together in different orders and with a few extra words, and you end up with a whole new meaning or specific interpretation.
| Word/Phrase | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Yeah | (colloquial) yes. Used to express acknowledgement of what was previously said. |
Speaker 1: Are you coming out tonight with us? Speaker 2: Yeah |
| No | used to give a negative response. | Speaker: Tommy said, “No.” |
| Yeah, No | (colloquial) No. Used to express agreement or acknowledgement of prior statement but reiterating/confirming a negative response. Commonly used emphatically to answer ‘no’ to a question where the negative answer should have been obvious. |
Speaker 1: Are you sure you don’t want to come out tonight? It’ll be lots of fun! Speaker 2: Yeah, no. I’m good at home. Speaker 1: Are you sure you don’t want to go hiking with us today? S peaker 2: Yeah, No. Why leave my air-conditioned room to go out in the sweltering heat. |
| Yeah No For Sure | (colloquial) Definitely. Used to express strong confirmation or affirmation in response to a prior statement. |
Speaker 1: Will you be okay at home for a couple hours? We’ll be back before 8pm. Speaker 2: Yeah No For Sure. I’ll be fine. Enjoy your date! |
| No, Yeah | (colloquial) Yes. Used to express initial disagreement or hesitancy but subsequent agreement. Typically followed but additional information or contribution by the speaker on the topic. Akin to “no, wait, yeah what you said was right,” |
Speaker 1: Are you sure we turn left here? I could’ve sworn Amy’s house was on the right. Speaker 2: No, yeah. You’re right. I got confused because Tommy lives on the left side. |
| Yeah No Yeah | (colloquial) Yes. Used to express acknowledgement of a prior statement but confirming an affirmative decision or response. Typically, the affirmative response is not in the listener’s best interest. |
Speaker 1: I heard that you decided to quit working here. Speaker 2: Yeah no yeah. I needed to find a job closer to home. |
| No Yeah No | (colloquial) No. Used to express acknowledgement of the question and disagreeing. |
Speaker 1: And then, Jamie said I was wrong. He was so mean. Can you believe it? Speaker 2: No yeah no. I think in this case, Jamie is right. I think you were a little harsh. |
BE PATIENT
I think the take-away that I had was to give yourself patience. It can be confusing at best and as you can see, even just the order of the same words can change the interpretation and appropriate context.
So cut yourself some slack.
English is hard and confusing and not straightforward. It can take a long time to learn the nuances and sometimes it actually takes some explicit training!
