No, I find this idiosyncrasy odd

[Elret]

I have a friend at work who starts every response to a question with "No".

"What did you have for lunch today?"
"No, I had a sandwich."

"Are you going to the meeting this afternoon?"
"No, yeah I'm heading over at around 2."

"What's your favourite colour?"
"No, green."

There's another person at work who does this on occasion, though not as frequently as my friend. They both happen to be Italian, I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

Does anyone else know anyone who does this? Anyone have any idea why?

[yosemite]

No, I have no idea why.

What? What?!? Someone had to do it!

[Gest]

Do you mean Italian as in citizenship and place of birth or do you mean heritage? Where did they grow up?

[Elret]

Sorry I didn't specify. Both were born and raised in Toronto, Canada, to parents who were born and raised in Italy.

[Ethilrist]

Obviously, the voices are answering "Yes" to every question asked, and the person has to correct them.

"What's your favourite color?"
Blue!
"No, green."

[Gest]

Toronto eh? Well that blows my theory out of the water.

[PussyCow]

Obviously, the voices are answering "Yes" to every question asked, and the person has to correct them.

"What's your favourite color?"
Blue!
"No, green."
hee hee :D

[MizQuirk]

Have you asked this person why s/he does this? I mean in a friendly, gentle way, of course.

[Amp]

Could this be a variation of "Ummm"?

[calm kiwi]

Toronto eh? Well that blows my theory out of the water.

Oh Canadians only think they say eh alot.

Kiwis are the kings of eh............ok! yes! it is a bad thing!

[jjimm]

Is your friend pessimistic?

Because my BiL answers all questions with a 'yes!'...

"How are you?"

"Yes! I'm fine thanks."

...and he's one of the most positive people I know.

[bulletproofcoffee]

I have a friend from South Africa, apparently they do it there too, as in...

Do you want to go to the park?
No, yeah!

... meaning yes. Those South Africans...

And by the way, I'm from Canada and my friends and I almost never say "eh". It's a stereotype like the Japanese sumo wrestler or the tall Swede.

[js_africanus]

Maybe it is "know" and is short for something like, "I acknowledge that you have requested information, and I feel that I have the necessary understanding and knowledge to answer it." Sort of in the way that "my bad" means "I have erred in my duties to respect etiquette or the performance of some task with which I was tasked; please accept my deepest apology."

Perhaps through life experience your friend has learned that it is best to categorically deny every request, as it helps to prevent others from running off half-cocked, spreading havoc pell mell across the country side.

One time, at the university library, as we were waiting for a ride, a woman approached us and asked, "Were you guys up on the third floor?" "Yes," we replied. "I am not a dyke!!" she shouts at us and charges into a long, screaming monologue about how she can run the four-thousand meter in such-and-such time and that not all atheletes are dykes. Sobbing and in tears she ran from the lobby, hopefully soon to feel the benefits of her cathartic outburst. Interestingly, while we were on the third floor, we hadn't seen her, nor had we talked about women, sports, or dykes. "Categorically deny everything," was what one of my friends concluded.

That's a true story.

[calm kiwi]

And by the way, I'm from Canada and my friends and I almost never say "eh". It's a stereotype like the Japanese sumo wrestler or the tall Swede.

I apologise to Canadians then, but it isn't a streotype in NZ.

We "eh" all over the place. Usually it means "pardon what was that you said?" or "you agree with me don't you?" but it can be chucked in just because.

[Khadaji]

My friend from Japan would start all of her sentences with "maybe." I assumed it was a filler while she gathered her thoughts.

[ThatDuckIsEvil]

my sweet Hungarian grandmother used to begin every response with "why" Not asking a question, just putting the word there.

"why, I said to Mary you can't get that tattoo..."

"why, who's up for Euchre?"

I chalked it up to English being her fourth language. Possibly the OP's parents being from Italy - it's an Old World thing.

[Celyn]

I apologise to Canadians then, but it isn't a streotype in NZ.

We "eh" all over the place. Usually it means "pardon what was that you said?" or "you agree with me don't you?" but it can be chucked in just because.

AH, we do that a lot in Scotland, too. I had no idea it was considered a stereotype for Cananda, or even NZ for that matter, until I came to the SDMB, but I just sort of assumed, "well, why not, EH? After all, both countries have a fairly significant Scottish expatriate population.

As for the OP, I have never heard that particular speech oddity. I should think it is the kind of thing that might sometimes be irritiating, for instance, on a Monday morning. :(

[Shrinking Violet]

Is your friend pessimistic?

Because my BiL answers all questions with a 'yes!'...

"How are you?"

"Yes! I'm fine thanks."

...and he's one of the most positive people I know.

Reading this made me realise .... I do the exact same thing! :o

[Lars Aruns]

"Are you going to the meeting this afternoon?"
"No, yeah I'm heading over at around 2."

There's another person at work who does this on occasion, though not as frequently as my friend. They both happen to be Italian, I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

Does anyone else know anyone who does this? Anyone have any idea why?
Funny, it happened to me a few times. When it happened, I was thinking of something else - no, no voices like Ethilrist suggested - and the sudden, quick-fire question got me by surprise. I suppose it was a way for the brain to switch from one subject to the other, but I really have no idea.
I also happen to be Italian, and I have another friend that does this, but I can tell you it's not really common. Maybe it only happens to the ones with overactive brains...

[DougC]

- - - Well it's really quite simple, you see: in Italian, "no" means "b!0tch", roughly translated.....

(-very roughly-)
~

[tesseract]

Hmm! I have a cow-orker who often responds to questions with No, even when she eventually means yes. Often, though, she really does say and mean no, and it's annoying -- it seems like she wants to say "No" to every request, and then she'll think up the reason for saying no afterwards. Maybe she's just sort of a unhelpful/pessimistic person, though. But then again, in other ways she's not unhelpful. Her native language is Portugese. I am going to ask her about this! Maybe a language quirk or convention contributes to her frequent use of no.

[Cervaise]

What do they say if you ask them a question to which "no" is legitimately the answer?

"Would you like me to smash your testicles with a mallet?"

"No— No!"


"...Nanette." :)

[Celyn]

Was there a Flann O'Brien character, in "The Third Policeman", I think, who had decided that "No" was usally the best answer to any question.

He explained that such very few friends as he did wish to have were normally kind enough to phrase their questions in an appropriate way - e.g. "WOuld youo refuse to have a glass of whisky with me?"

[Celyn]

Rats - I meant "wasn't there a .........."

It seems that my language skills are going too. :(

[The King of Soup]

If they have children of a certain age and level of creative exuberance, the word "no" could simply be a verbal reflex.

No, I'm serious.

[MizQuirk]

Hmm! I have a cow-orker who often responds to questions with No, even when she eventually means yes. Often, though, she really does say and mean no, and it's annoying -- it seems like she wants to say "No" to every request, and then she'll think up the reason for saying no afterwards. Maybe she's just sort of a unhelpful/pessimistic person, though. But then again, in other ways she's not unhelpful. Her native language is Portugese. I am going to ask her about this! Maybe a language quirk or convention contributes to her frequent use of no.
At last--perhaps an answer instead of all this speculation! If I knew anyone who did this, I'd certainly ask why--in a gentle and friendly way, of course.

I'll be watching here for results!

[Lillith Fair]

There is a character on "The Vicar of Dibley" British TV show that started every statement with "No no no no no no..."

Once they showed his wife, and I think she started every statement with "Yes yes yes yes yes yes..."

Really funny.

But not funny in real live, I'm sure.

[Lillith Fair]

real life

Geez, what is wrong with me?

[Boldface Type]

Was there a Flann O'Brien character, in "The Third Policeman", I think, who had decided that "No" was usally the best answer to any question.

Old Mathers.

[Sangre Azul]

Hmmm. I have a bad habit of starting a lot of conversations with the word "also". Even if it's the first time I've spoken to that person that day.

It's a bit of a verbal crutch for me, since I stutter. A crutch can help me jump-start my speech, especially when I'm tired and thus very prone to having full-out stops on certain sounds.

But, that's just me. The OP's use of "no" could just be the equivalent of "umm" or "uhh", as has already been suggested. Just a crutch of a somewhat different kind. Crutches can easily become habits, even if you no longer need them.

The use of starting with "yes" in answer to any question, though, might be seen as simple acknowledgement of the question itself.

[Trunk]

I start some sentences with "yeah, no".

"do you want to go to lunch today?"

"yeah, no, I'll do that."

I also start them with "well, you know" and just plain "you know" even when they don't belong.

The "yeah, no" thing is a little odd when I write it, but in person it comes across much more just like an "um" or "er" or whatever.

I think that they're all "silence fillers" while I put together my thoughts on the question. I'm sure linguists have looked at this kind of thing.

[Ghanima]

AAAACK! My former boss used to start every fuckin' sentence with "Again." It drove me absolutely nuts, because it made it sound like he had already explained whatever he was saying. Example:
Me: "Where do I file these reports? (that I've never seen before?)
Him: Again, they are filed in Cabinet #20.
Me: Um, OK.... (WTF????)

I think it's compulsive, like those noises that people make when they're thinking. You know, those noises? You make them too, even if you don't know it.

Yikes, imagine someone starting every post with "Again,..."
I would hate them.

[jsgoddess]

I have the exceedingly bad habit of starting sentences with "if."

"If you could fax this for me, please!"

"If you could hold for me, please."

I don't mean to do it!

[Jenaroph]

Obviously, the voices are answering "Yes" to every question asked, and the person has to correct them.

"What's your favourite color?"
Blue!
"No, green."
Shouldn't that be:

Blue!
No, yellooooooooooow!

[Batsinma Belfry]

I had a friend that would end all his sentences with "mmmmm-kay?" Just like that guy on South Park.

[Ethilrist]

Shouldn't that be:

Blue!
No, yellooooooooooow!
:dubious:
Blue!
No, Green!
AAAUUUGHHHH!!!
:rolleyes:
Kids these days. No respect for the classics.

[Jenaroph]

:dubious:
Blue!
No, Green!
AAAUUUGHHHH!!!
:rolleyes:
Kids these days. No respect for the classics.
It's Yellooowwww...I'd swear on my left buttcheek.

Unless you're referencing something other than Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Then I'm a complete ass.