[Grammar] Yes/No Answer

[khanhhung2512]

When a lady asks a man: "Does it mean you weren't planning to assassinate the king?"
Should the man answer: "Yes (I was planning). Yes. I was," or "No (it doesn't mean). No. I was,"?
Thanks very much.
PS: Please inform me of any mistakes I've made.

 

[Grumpy]

As you have surmised, this is one of many situations where a simple "Yes" or "No" is not sufficient. You would have to say something like "Of course I haven't been planning to assassinate the king", or (alternatively - and much more interestingly) "Ha! Zounds! My evil plot to assassinate the king remains undiscovered!"
A classic example of this sort of thing (often quoted before the advent of political correctness) used to be the question "Have you stopped beating your wife?". Answering just "No" indicated that you were still beating your wife; answering "Yes" could mean that you used to beat your wife, but had now stopped. Neither single-word answer could convey the fact that you were appalled at the very idea of wife-beating!

 

[MikeNewYork]

When a lady asks a man: "Does it mean you weren't planning to assassinate the king?"
Should the man answer: "Yes (I was planning). Yes. I was," or "No (it doesn't mean). No. I was,"?
Thanks very much.
PS: Please inform me of any mistakes I've made.

"Yes, I was" or "No, I wasn't".

 

[khanhhung2512]

"Yes, I was" or "No, I wasn't".

These are the lines I heard in an animation:
Girl: This means you weren't really planning to assassinate his majesty after all, right?
Boy: No. No. I was.
The whole dialogue is quite hilarious. But does it mean the boy is grammatically incorrect?

 

[5jj]

It's not a matter of grammatical correctness, but of context. Both, "Yes, Yes, I was (planning to assassinate his majesty)', and " No, No (You're wrong). I was (planning to assassinate his majesty)', are possible.

 

[khanhhung2512]

It's not a matter of grammatical correctness, but of context. Both, "Yes, Yes, I was (planning to assassinate his majesty)', and " No, No (You're wrong). I was (planning to assassinate his majesty)', are possible.

Thanks. But between "Yes, yes, I was," and "No, no, I was," which is more appropriate in this context?

 

[5jj]

We don't know exactly what was going through the speaker's mind.

 

[beesting]

For the question, "Have you stopped beating your wife?" I understand how both yes and no could put the one who replies in trouble but for the question "Does it mean you weren't planning to assassinate the king?", what is wrong in saying yes? Wouldn't here a yes only mean- "Yes.It means that."?

 

[5jj]

Yes

 

[Barb_D]

It does not matter if the question was phrased in the positive or negative, really.

Yes, I am planning to. Yes, I was planning to. Yes, I do that. Yes, I did that. Yes, I will do that.
No, I am not planning to. No, I was not planning to. No, I don't do that. No, I never did that. No, I won'd to that.

If you want CLARITY in your communication, use a full sentence.

 

[emsr2d2]

For me, "Yes" works fine in the original context. It doesn't matter how the sentence ends. The important part is "Does this mean that ...". Saying "Yes" means "Yes, it means that".

There are plenty of questions to which a straight Yes or No would not work but I don't think this is one of them. Had the question been "So you weren't planning to assassinate the king?", it would not be possible to answer with a simple Yes or No.

 

[khanhhung2512]

For me, "Yes" works fine in the original context. It doesn't matter how the sentence ends. The important part is "Does this mean that ...". Saying "Yes" means "Yes, it means that".

There are plenty of questions to which a straight Yes or No would not work but I don't think this is one of them. Had the question been "So you weren't planning to assassinate the king?", it would not be possible to answer with a simple Yes or No.

Excuse me. But with the question ""So you weren't planning to assassinate the king?":
Yes -> I was planning to assassinate the king.
No -> I wasn't planning to assassinate the king.
Of course, if he wants to express more shocking, he could add like: "No. Why did you say that?"
I don't see any problem with Yes/No answer here.

 

[bhaisahab]

Excuse me. But with the question ""So you weren't planning to assassinate the king?":
Yes -> I was planning to assassinate the king.
No -> I wasn't planning to assassinate the king.
Of course, if he wants to express more shocking, he could add like: "No. Why did you say that?"
I don't see any problem with Yes/No answer here.

I wouldn't use a Yes/No answer there.