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No is a complete sentence

networkingnerd.net

51–60 of 99 posts

Re: No is a complete sentence

#51
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would like to hear (read) Melville's Bartebly's genius response in other languages. For my part: Radije ne bih. (Serbian)

Je préférerais ne pas.

That’s not grammatically correct in my opinion. I’d say “je n’aime autant pas” ou “je ne préférerais pas” but it doesn’t sound exactly like it should.

Re: No is a complete sentence

#52
post #49

From an organizational perspective, this is horrible advice: > Let me tell you clearly. “No” is a complete sentence. It requires no explanation or defense. The "It requires no explanation or defense" part is just plain wrong . If someone asks you to do something in an organization, it's fine to say "No", but an explanation is nearly always expected. And this explanation is critical, because often time the answer is s…

> Has someone asked you to do something recently that you know you don’t have time to do but felt like you needed to do anyway? "When is this needed" is a great alternative to a hard "no". It opens up a conversation about priorities. And lets you transparent about what needs to get delayed so that this new priority can be worked. It's a perfectly reasonable conversation to have, and helps you keep healthy boundaries.

“Yesterday”

Followed by a blog post about why the deadline of yesterday doesn't need an explanation

Re: No is a complete sentence

#53
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When I read the title, I imagined this would be about social and romantic situations. In personal contexts, of course you have the right to say no with no further explanation. Maybe you need to rethink that. Do your friends really warrant less respect than colleagues?

Personal contexts are different. Quite acceptable to say just "No" to: - do you want me to get you a drink? - may I kiss you? - I hear they're doing shrooms next door, shall we join them?

In what way can't you just say a plain "no" to:

- do you want to take my shift?

- Do you know how this api works?

- Do you want to attend the meeting this afternoon?

I don't see how personal vs professional changes anything.

Re: No is a complete sentence

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Je préférerais ne pas.

That’s not grammatically correct in my opinion. I’d say “je n’aime autant pas” ou “je ne préférerais pas” but it doesn’t sound exactly like it should.

“je n’aime autant pas” sounds weird. “je ne préférerais pas” is correct but I agree it does not have the same feeling as "I'd prefer not to".

I suspect "I'd prefer not to" is somewhat difficult to translate in French. This is probably because in English, "not to" without repeating the verb / action feels natural but in French it would feel like something is missing. You could try "Je préfèrerais ne pas faire ça" but that does not sound great either.

I would probably go for "Ça ne m'arrange pas" ("It isn't convenient for me").

Re: No is a complete sentence

#56
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When I read the title, I imagined this would be about social and romantic situations. In personal contexts, of course you have the right to say no with no further explanation. Maybe you need to rethink that. Do your friends really warrant less respect than colleagues?

> Maybe you need to rethink that. Do your friends really warrant less respect than colleagues Are your friends paying you to complete whatever tasks they ask of you? Really what it means is this: A friend may ask something of you and you decline with a stated reason. Then they start finding ways to tell you your reason is invalid and then therefore you shouldn't refuse. This is the part that's disrespectful. Sometime…

No.

Re: No is a complete sentence

#57
Oh god not this again. I'm not sure if this is just ripped off or if this is another person encouraging others to commit career and / or social suicide. To be blunt if you do this to me in the workplace and you are my direct report you will get a verbal warning. If you do it repeatedly you will get fired. If you are a colleague and you do this I will report you, and will never help you. If you do this to me and I know you socially I will no longer want to spend any time with you.

Edit: article this strongly reminds me of that is also terrible advice. https://erikvancraddock.com/2022/01/dont-explain/

Re: No is a complete sentence

#58

From an organizational perspective, this is horrible advice: > Let me tell you clearly. “No” is a complete sentence. It requires no explanation or defense. The "It requires no explanation or defense" part is just plain wrong . If someone asks you to do something in an organization, it's fine to say "No", but an explanation is nearly always expected. And this explanation is critical, because often time the answer is s…

Great advice from Herman Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener”: simply saying “I would prefer not to…” has worked so many times for me.

Contra: saying that you would prefer not to means that you can and will if pushed enough.

Re: No is a complete sentence

#59

From an organizational perspective, this is horrible advice: > Let me tell you clearly. “No” is a complete sentence. It requires no explanation or defense. The "It requires no explanation or defense" part is just plain wrong . If someone asks you to do something in an organization, it's fine to say "No", but an explanation is nearly always expected. And this explanation is critical, because often time the answer is s…

Not entirely. The explanation is very very often taken as start of negotiation and an invitation to pressure/question you.

Saying that as someone who was taught to explain everything as kid and found out in real life that I have to unlearn that. Say no, maybe bonus "cant" but don't say reasons unless you really have to.

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