am I annoying, or just irritating?
I don't seem to be able to ask a yes/no question without tacking an alternative on the end, just in case the person thinks... something bad. I'm not sure what exactly. That I'm expecting a particular (presumably, wrong) answer? That I could only think of one possible explanation? Something that shows me to be an idiot, anyway. Of course, now I think this habit makes me look like an idiot, too, but having noticed that probably isn't going to make me stop doing it; I'll just mentally cringe* more often than I already do.
*Why is one supposed to merely wince from embarrassment and not cringe? It's definitely a fear- rather than pain-based reaction for me. And why do I feel compelled to justify my word choice, just because reading that post months ago added yet another internal censor?
posted by Lucy @ 8:07 PM
10
comments
10 Comments:
Totally normal. I just did a brief search of the literature and found that yes/no questions with alternatives are prefered to polar yes/no questions in certain situations, in certain cultures in general, and by people who don't want to sound pushy.
It's not just you :)
I think embarrassment is totally a cringe situation. "Wincing" is *way* too mild for that.
Also, I've never thought about it, but I'm pretty sure I do that same yes/no thing. So, not like being like me is a freaking prize, but it's not just you. :)
Not that you don't sound credible, Styley, but I wasn't sure if you were just trying to make me feel better with the lit search :)
Two linguists saying it's not just me does reassure me a bit, though.
So does being like you, Luckybuzz :)
Uh yeah. I made that up. I'm not such a big loser that I'd do a lit search on something that came up on someone's blog. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha... ha. Dearie me, no.
But if I HAD really done a lit search, I'd be wondering why there's so much research out there on yes/no questions in Estonian. And comparatively little on other languages. Weirdness.
laughing at, er, with Styley :)
I totally didn't google polar questions to see if you were making it up, either.
And I didn't just google "polar questions" myself too to see whether it LOOKED like I was making it up.
it didn't :) And thanks for looking it up to reassure me!
I neither wince nor cringe in embarrassment; I flee in embarrassment. I think that is an appropriate usage. This begs the question of what the linguists think, but it's probably a mute point since they probably won't read and respond to this comment.
Semi-grammatically! Wow! That's the nicest thing anyone has said to me all day.
Post a Comment
<< Home