“Yeah, no…”

[idahoblues]

My English nieces have been talking to me like this for years, yeah

 

[stonerblue]

Nearly every footballer now starts every single answer to every single question with this stupid phrasing.

“You played well today Jack”.

“Yeah, no, I’m pleased with how it’s going”.

“Are you happy with a draw Ryan?”

“Yeah, no, the lads put a shift in”

It drives me up the wall. It came out of nowhere about two years ago and now it’s everywhere. How can both yes and no be applicable to the same opinion?

Twenty years ago i was living in Brighton and heavily involved in the dj/dance scene. Whenever a hipster came down from that there London they would normally start all their sentences this way. Been annoying me ever since.
Check out Giles Petersons shows on 6 music and he'll say it at least 5 times....

 

[stonerblue]

It needs to be remembered; most (not all) footballers aren't Oppenheimer clones. I'm not saying they're thick as pig shit (others might!), but most will be of relatively average intelligence. Now; I think I read somewhere that academy lads (certainly at the bigger clubs) receive media training. Most will be able to take it on board, others won't. You tend not to see many as eloquent as, say, Nedum.

All have media training which essentially teaches them to say nowt on interview

 

[KS55]

What is needed is a translation device. The player dictates his answer into the machine which translates it to English.
Interviewer: “You played well today.”
Player: “ Yeah no I was made up with the lads we stuck to the game plan and we was good. Rags next week.”
Machine: “Yes we did. We put in a solid team effort which was pleasing, and we were tactically sound. Now we will concentrate on the next game which is against united.”
Interviewer: “You must have been pleased with your goal.”
Player: “It came to me and I just hit it. Always happy to help the team get three points.”
Machine: “A great through ball from Phil made it easy for me and I struck it cleanly. The whole team worked hard and earned the three points. So we are pleased with that.”
Player departs.
Interviewer: “Fuck me.”
Machine: “You’re welcome.”

 

[Broken Biscuits]

Julian Lescott starts every reply with, "Yeah, definitely..."

100% ;)

 

[BlueMoonRisin’]

Rooney starts every answer with ‘obviously’!

Erm, he says Erm first because he's thick as fuck.

 

[Mr Kobayashi]

Julian Lescott starts every reply with, "Yeah, definitely..."

Who?

 

[Deepest Blue]

A lot of Aussies start their sentences with "Aah, look".
Some Irish say "Ah, listen".

 

[andthesunshineband]

I thought the phrase was " yeah, no, obviously".

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Just googled it actually and it’s been written about quite extensively by linguists. It was born In Australia apparently. I even found a little piece on its use by footballers which makes sense:

“The next time a footballer answers “yeah no”, be aware that there is more to the reply than just an “um-ah” prefix. In this sporting context, Professor Burridge says “yeah no” is often used in its abstract context; as a way to defuse a compliment by a bashful footballer.

“You’ve got to downplay the compliment but you can’t reject it because that seems ungracious. It’s a complicated little thing.”