Our language can be hard to understand. Sometimes a positive answer is really a negative answer. For example, when someone asks you if you want to do a dirty, stinky job for him free of charge, you could respond with "yeah right", meaning "heck no" or "no way". If I would ask someone that question and they came back with the "yeah right" answer, I would then ask them if they could start on it immediately and walk off while I told hem to let me know when it was done.
Literally, isn't it a positive answer, although meant to be a negative answer? It doesn't take long at all to find more words and phrases used in American English that can be taken in more than one way. Multiple meaning words can be dangerous to use in very serious dialogs when damage could occur or in life threatening situations. And, of course, you all just said "yeah right", right? Now, you all have a great day, you hear?
Yep, English is a mess. That's what get from stealing all our grammar from other languages.
ReplyDeleteYep, but the US has taken in people from all parts of the world. So, I can see how our language has hints of all those other languages.
DeleteThat is why English is so difficult to understand for some foreigners.
ReplyDeleteIt is probably the hardest language in the world to learn if you didn't grow up here.
DeleteThat's one reason I often say "listen to what I mean, not what I say", as if that was going to do any good!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, sometimes I can't get in words what I want to say.
DeleteI notice as I get older I often read things entirely wrong. But that is a combination of my eyesight and age, not the language.
ReplyDeleteYep, I sometimes read things the way I want them to be instead of what they actually say.
Delete