Falwell’s death has made the world a better place, and in this clip Hitch gives an anti-eulogy.
Lots of intriguing thoughts here:
- Do religious conmen really believe their schtick?
- If you think religion is false but ‘teaches good moral values’ (as I have been guilty of thinking from time to time), then how moral is it to teach lies to children?
- Why do religious beliefs so often get a pass when it comes to critical evaluation?
But the interesting thing for me: Did anyone notice Anderson Cooper’s use of ‘yeah, no’ at 3:33? This is typically regarded as Australian, but it could be spreading.
Why do people say ‘yeah, no’? Is the ‘yeah’ an agreement, and the ‘no’ a discourse particle? If so, what’s the ‘no’ doing? Is it to backtrack to an earlier part of the discourse? Does it start a new branch off the dialogue? At this point, I tend to think it’s there to anticipate disagreement, or to set up an imaginary opponent, and disagree with them to show that you’re following your listener.
More research needs to be done et cetera.
18 May 2007 at 5:44 am
Yeah no, I think it’s actually a combination of an acknowledgement that you understood what someone’s said, but also an indication that you’re not necessarily in complete agreement with it. At any rate, that’s how I think I use it … it’s tricky to analyse one’s own usage like this.
19 May 2007 at 1:03 am
There was an article about that in the Australian Journal of Linguistics (Oct 2002, vol 22, 2).
I think it’s used self-importantly: “Yeah, you may have said exactly what I’m about to say, but NO, as an authority on this subject THIS IS MY ORIGINAL UNIQUE OPINION.”
Having said that, I’ve only ever caught myself saying it when I’m agreeing with a negative statement, like, “Yeah, no that was wrong.”
19 May 2007 at 1:40 am
Or: I agree with you…BUT…
Maybe.
20 May 2007 at 12:58 am
‘Yeah-no He’s a Good Kid’: A Discourse Analysis of Yeah-no in Australian English