The British no

I need to get used to the British way of responding with "No" when they really agree with you. For example, in response to "The weather's not looking good," I would say "Yeah." The British say "No." (No, it isn't.) It's a bit jarring -- feels like they're disagreeing. For instance,

"London isn't expensive." "No." (what? you're saying it's expensive?)

"I don't have a ticket." "No." (what? you're telling me I have a ticket?)

"There's not enough room." "No."

etc. Quite disorienting. I guess it's also a little more hard work. You have to keep track of when to say "Yes" and when to say "No".
Written on 11 Aug 2005

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S Anand, Infosys Consulting, London UK. +44 7957 440 260