you should meet my therapist
SaraMK:
In real life it annoys me when people answer "Do you mind?" type questions with "Sure."
jolrei:
Yes, they probably "could care less". :P
Liz:
Quote from: SnootCB on 2008 November 19, 20:50:28
Actually, I thought about it a bit more, and it is technically correct in most cases to answer both positive and negative versions of a yes/no question in the same way. So "does Pescado like Emma?" and "doesn't Pescado like Emma?" would have the same yes/no answer. I don't know if this is the case with a "do you mind if ___ ?" type question, though. Anyone of you more grammar-oriented people know which is the better answer in this case? I hope this isn't too off-topic.
Too off-topic? Dude, there's always room for Jell-o grammar!
Despite common (mis-)usage, "Does A like B?" is not linguistically the same question as "Doesn't A like B?". The second question is asking, "Is it not true that A likes B?" So you would answer that, yes, it is not true, or that, no, it's true. This seems bass-ackwards, but it's answering the question as it was asked.
Assuming A likes B:
Does A like B? Yes, he does.
Doesn't A like B? No, he does.
Doesn't 'shoe' rhyme with 'paper'? Yes, it does not rhyme. Doesn't a hat go on the head? No, it does go on the head.
These grammatical constructs are largely ignored, however, so most people will take "Doesn't it?" to mean, "It does, right?" and answer the question affirmatively. Similarly, people will frequently answer "Do you mind?" incorrectly. While its intent is the same as asking, "Is it okay with you?", the question itself is not the same. For this reason, when someone asks me, "Isn't he going?" I'll probably answer, "He's going," instead of just saying Yes or No so that everybody's clear. I opt for clarity over succinctness.
Regarding the dialog above, as witch indicated, the question being asked isn't whether it's okay; it's asking whether you mind. These questions should receive different answers.
Is it okay? Yes.
Do you mind? No.
If answering 'Yes' means they give out your number, the game has it wrong. 'Yes' means you do mind; you would prefer they NOT hand over your number. So as you mentioned, it's a 'Yes' that means 'No'. This is one of the reasons I'm coming to appreciate the linguistic simplicity of Cantonese. Yes/No questions are asked as multiple choice. Answer by circling the correct one. "You want/not want go?" "Not want."
Quote from: jolrei on 2008 November 20, 17:38:22
Yes, they probably "could care less". :P
GAAAAAAAAAHHH! *runs, screaming, into the night*
rufio:
Doesn't ....? is a special question form which expects a positive answer. In case you were wondering, English is not the only language that uses a negative morpheme to mark that. Real negative questions have a different word order: Does A not like B? Does shoe not rhyme with paper? Or, there's always the method of saying a negative sentence with question intonation, as when expecting confirmation or clarification: A doesn't like B?
NothingToSee:
Quote from: jolrei on 2008 November 20, 17:38:22
Yes, they probably "could care less". :P
Now THAT is one of my pet peeves. I cringe every time I read that particular phrase.
Sometimes I point out why it is wrong, but I tend to get called a Grammar Nazi for my trouble. :D
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