What part of “No, Totally” don't you understand? • Hacker News Board

Re: What part of “No, Totally” don't you understand?

#21

Post by BFay » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 4:54 PM UTC

The different possible origins of this phrase are interesting. The article mentions a couple, and there's some in the comments here.

I've always seen it as I'm saying "no" to alleviate any doubt the other person had that I did not agree with their statement.

The conversation might go: A. I really think "OK Computer" is the best Radiohead album. B. No, totally!

But the implication is more like: A. I think "OK Computer" is the best Radiohead album. Am I crazy for not picking "Kid A" or "In Rainbows?" B. No, I don't think you're crazy for liking "OK Computer" the best. I totally agree with you.

Does anybody else see it this way? (Please respond with "No, totally!" (It's okay if you don't like "OK Computer"))

Re: What part of “No, Totally” don't you understand?

#22

Post by talles » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 5:04 PM UTC

As a non-native English speaker "No, Totally" doesn't sound natural at all to me ("Yes, Totally" sounds better and makes way more sense).

I only understood what the author was really talking about when he introduced other examples (like to dust).

Re: What part of “No, Totally” don't you understand?

#23

Post by borgia » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 5:19 PM UTC

talles wrote: post #22

As a non-native English speaker "No, Totally" doesn't sound natural at all to me ("Yes, Totally" sounds better and makes way more sense). I only understood what the author was really talking about when he introduced other examples (like to dust ).

>As a non-native English speaker "No, Totally" doesn't sound natural at all to me

I'm a native English speaker and "No, Totally" doesn't sound at all natural to me either.

Re: What part of “No, Totally” don't you understand?

#24

Post by fapjacks » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 5:23 PM UTC

vilhelm_s wrote: post #15

shasta wrote: post #2

> At first blush, “no” does not appear to be the kind of word whose meaning you can monkey with. For one thing, there is its length. At just two letters and one syllable, it lacks the pliable properties of longer words. You can’t stuff stuff inside it. [...] I guess these 'long form' articles have to be long, but some of these paragraphs seem pretty forced.

This article seems particularly bad (I stopped reading halfway through), but a lot of articles published in The New Yorker seems to do this kind of meandering. The other day I was reading a story about Jake Leg[0], and if you compare it to the corresponding Wikipedia article[1] the difference is really striking---the Wikipedia article tells you straight away what caused the contamination, while the New Yorker story s…

Agreed. I just move along when I see an article trying to play a story out like a movie.

Re: What part of “No, Totally” don't you understand?

#25

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 5:27 PM UTC

greggman wrote: post #5

No, English is messed up :P I learned about some of this from learning Japanese where I had to learn you answer the question directly rather than confirm the negative by repeating it. In Japanese: Q: You don't like cigars do you A: Yes (Yes I don't like cigars) In English Q: You don't like cigars do you A: No (it's effectively confirming the negative of "like") My Japanese friends learning English of course found Eng…

[deleted]

Re: What part of “No, Totally” don't you understand?

#26

Post by aptimpropriety » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 5:30 PM UTC

This is pretty crazy analysis for what I see to be a pretty simple phenomenon. Put the truncated "Oh" in front of the "no", in order to indicate emotional sentiment, and you have your simple explanation.

"oh no" = hat tip to an [unexpected] unpleasant feeling

"oh yes" = hat tip to an [unexpected] pleasant feeling

Take the "Did you see any birds at the park?" "yeah, no, I didn't see any" = "Oh yeah, it would have been nice to, but no I didn't see any.

Re: What part of “No, Totally” don't you understand?

#27

Post by CocaKoala » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 5:35 PM UTC

ryguytilidie wrote: post #12

One of my favorite racing drivers was recently interviewed, made this mistake and then immediately mocked himself for doing so, pretty funny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuJ4trSKS-0&feature=youtu.be...

This is great because he says "Yeah, no", notices it, calls himself out for it, and then immediately does it again, and he stops and calls himself out a second time, and then you can see him make a visible effort to omit the "no" the third time around.

Re: What part of “No, Totally” don't you understand?

#28

Post by briandear » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 5:36 PM UTC

rasz_pl wrote: post #4

I would blame the French. Frenchmen speaking English badly often say Borat like phrases, for example "its great, no?". It happens when you learn vocabulary without grammar rules.

What grammar rule is violated? The question "is it not?" Is completely valid English and common with French speakers.

I would literally argue that it's ironic that most English speakers have a bad command of the language. Of course you're experience may be different. The reality is that grammar is often, especially in spoken language, is butchered. It's affect is that many people could care less.

Re: What part of “No, Totally” don't you understand?

#29

Post by mapt » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 5:37 PM UTC

Seems simple enough to me. The "No" is directed at defusing a redundant introductory lecture.

Translate as:

"No, you don't have to explain further, I completely understand"

"No, stop, I've already heard of that and I'm totally onboard with your opinion"

I spend a lot of time being introduced to topics I'm already familiar with, but just nodding politely or saying "yeah" is interpreted as active listening, as "I'd like to hear more" rather than "Yeah, you can stop right there", which is too confrontational to use directly. What's your preferred way of expressing this sentiment, of interrupting someone in order to claim knowledge in their present topic, without indicating hostility or belittling them?

Extending one of the other posts, "No, your assumption is incorrect, I am in fact already familiar with this subject and I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiment".

Re: What part of “No, Totally” don't you understand?

#30

Post by briandear » Wed, Apr 08, 2015, 5:37 PM UTC

talles wrote: post #22

As a non-native English speaker "No, Totally" doesn't sound natural at all to me ("Yes, Totally" sounds better and makes way more sense). I only understood what the author was really talking about when he introduced other examples (like to dust ).

Leah Dunham doesn't seem natural to me.