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Say I'm having a conversation and somebody besides me asks "you didn't go to the movie", so usually I would say "no" even though they are correct.

Is there a name for this? Any more information?

I'm in the USA if that helps

aparente001
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Ashton Wielang
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    It's called "giving a confusing answer". – Hot Licks Jan 19 '17 at 02:40
  • If you really need help and don't understand that you were being anti-social, I'd be happy to explain.. or perhaps try the http://ell.stackexchange.com/ for english language learners. – Tom22 Jan 19 '17 at 02:56
  • Voting to reopen because as far as I can tell, "Is there a name for this?" wasn't addressed previously. – aparente001 Jan 19 '17 at 19:45

2 Answers2

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This is a somewhat complicated topic, for such a simple topic.

If you are speaking face-to-face then details of your speech and body language convey a lot. (And it also can depend to a significant degree on the conversation up to this point.)

You didn't go to the movie?

Responding with a rather terse and monotone "No." would indicate that you did not go. On the other hand, a more expressive "No." with a hint of a rising tone might indicate that you did go.

Since these clues are hard enough to pick up in person, and impossible in the written word, it's better to use a more complete response, such as:

No, I didn't go.

Or

Actually, I did go.

Hot Licks
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I don't know if there's a name for this, but I will make one up to further the discussion.

confirmation of a negative expectation

Hopefully that is self-explanatory.

If I did not go to the movie, and I respond, "No, I didn't go to the movie," or "No, that's not correct," we could call it a

correction or contradiction of the assumption

Some languages have a special way to do this, e.g. in Spanish, "No no," instead of just "No." Also, some languages have a special way to do the opposite, for example for "You didn't see that movie yet, right?" the answer in German would be "Doch"("Yes, I did") and in Spanish would be "No, sí" (No, yes).

aparente001
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