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Re:Why the French love to say no by hgibbs on Sunday August 04, 2019 @09:38PM (#20610349)
"Yeah, nah" means one of two things. Most frequently it means "I agree with you that the answer is no", but it can also be used to say "yes I can see how that point is valid, but I disagree with the conclusion". Tone and context are used to differentiate between the two uses, particularly how one says the "nah" (in agreement or not). So for example: "it doesn't look like it's going to rain today aye" could be answered with a "yeah, nah" to indicate that one agrees that it won't rain today, or a "yeah, nah" to indicate that, while it may look like it won't rain, the respondent still believes it could rain.

I believe "nah, yeah" is used in an analogous way, but in my experience it's less commonly said than "yeah, nah".

Re:Why the French love to say no by jwilliams on Sunday August 04, 2019 @09:56PM (#20610422)
I think there is the other more sarcastic case too - being "I could, but I'm not". Especially the case if the "yeah" is drawn out.

Shall we help Dave move his fridge up four flights of stairs? "Yeah.... nah".

Re:Why the French love to say no by murrayb on Monday August 05, 2019 @12:31AM (#20611307)
I hear "yeah, nah" more used in this sarcastic way than any other in Western Australia.