[lit-ideas] Re: "Sure" (Was: Jenny)
- From: Judy Evans <judithevans001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 5 Sep 2004 17:52:04 +0100
Sunday, September 5, 2004, 3:57:46 AM, Robert Paul wrote:
RP> The meaning of 'Sure,' as a response to 'Do you mind if I sit
RP> here?' can best be understood in light of this sense of 'sure,'
RP> where the hearer is answering, for whatever reason, a different
RP> question, one to which the appropriate answer is 'yes.' Of that
RP> much I'm reasonably certain.
Alternatively, as I have suggested, the hearer has previously replied
"No" (or "Not at all", or "No, do..."), whereupon the questioner has
(questioners have) shown by mien and action that they believe they
have been rebuffed.
-- Judy Evans, active speaker of modern English
Cardiff, UK mailto:judithevans001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
