I think I've spotted a trend.Â
Yeah-no is an odd mixed message. Heard mainly from radio talkshow types, but also in real life.
Two radio examples:
"Yeah-no, you've got a problem."
"Yeah-no, I was thinking along the same lines."
Real life example. Two Safeway employees chatting about scheduling:
"Yeah-no, I see what he means."
It's not spoken as a two-syllable word; it's four beats, with equal pauses.
Yeah / / No / / I was thinking etc.
May be a recent variant on a longer and broader trend toward starting positive statements with a simple No, as in "No, I think that's exactly right."Â There are circumstances where the No would make sense, as in answering a negatively phrased question, but it usually happens in a context where it's completely uncalled for.
I've been hearing that for years, maybe since the 90s. Certainly, a grammatically correct sentence can begin with "Yes, no ..." but I think in most cases it's just careless and colloquial usage and not grammatically correct (like some of the examples cited by polistra). In those cases, the "yeah" or "yes" serves more as an acknowledgment of the original question/comment ... maybe even as a place-holder like "Umm" or "Hmm" or "Actually."
Heimhenge said
I think in most cases it's just careless
Yes, comparable to the "is is" syndrome. I hear this continually on television: "The problem is is that ...."
Even a klutz wouldn't write that way. I suppose that when it crops up in speech, it's just carelessness.
I hear it more now than I used to. I have a suspicion, though no evidence, that it might take the place of the of the more sarcastic "Yeah, right!" and that it spreads by imitation.