Yeh no but
Rob Simpson
answer questions with "Yeh no but..." and variations on that theme? You
don't here it from other nationalities, and I've never seen it typed in
newsgroups, forums or anywhere on the web.
I've just been watching the last day's racing in the Toyota Formula series
and even the kids (most of the drivers seem to be teenagers) are doing it.
It's a bit OT for this group, as it's not really confined to sportspeople;
you hear it from businesspeople to homemakers and everyone in between when
being interviewed by the media, though it seems to be restricted to NZ
born folk. I'm pretty sure it's not taught in schools, so I can only
presume it's picked up through peer groups and/or watching others say it
on tv.
Have English language education standards lowered that much since I went
to school (50's - 60's) that speaking reasonably correct English is no
longer worth encouraging? I know that schools seem to be accepting texting
shorthand, but are educators nowadays willing to accept terms like "Yeh no
but...", "Um yeah...", "Y'know..." etc. as suitable spoken English skills
to ensure their students are as prepared as possible for either starting
working life or further education, which is the whole point of compulsory
school education? Don't say it's a socio-economic problem, as you here it
from all levels of society, though I'll admit I haven't heard it from a
politician yet. They work hard on their language skills to ensure they can
answer questions without actually answering the questions. :-)
Well, that's enough of this rant. I'd x-post to nz.general, but I don't
think there is enough collective intelligence in that ng to put together a
cohesive and comprehensible response. (There probably are a few
intelligent individuals who subscribe to nz.general, but by x-posting
there, this thread, if it develops into a thread, would in short order
devolve to the lowest common denominator, quickly diverging into flame
wars and total incomprehensibility.) :-)
--
Rob - Linux user number 467898 Ubuntu User number 17166
Linux 2.6.22-14-generic - E2160 1.8Ghz running at 3.0Ghz
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