"Да нет" - make up your mind!

[david-us.livejournal.com]

I hear Russians say this with some regularity, "Да нет."

"Yes, no!" ???

What is this expression supposed to convey? Does it mean that they are getting ready to say something that contradicts something else they just said?

David Emerling
Memphis, TN

Comments

[pinky-the-cow.livejournal.com]

There's a joke on that in one well-known russian comedian repertoire, about foreign husband absolutely failing to grasp what his wife answers, when she's asked if she wanted some tea. The punchline is that her reply was "Да нет, наверное". Which means something like "not really, I suppose".

That's richness of Russian for you. Unless "Да" in the beginning of the sentence is separated from the rest of it, that "Да" doesn't translate as "Yes". It has different meanings.

"Вы ещё не поели?"
"Да, не поел".
("You still haven't eaten, right?" "Yes, I haven't.")

"Вы ещё не поели?"
"Да поел я! отстаньте, чёрт побери!"
("You still haven't eaten, right?" "I did eat, for <insert random deinty name here>'s sake! leave me alone, dammit!")

"Да, будет свет завтра после двух."
(something like "Yes, electricity will have been restored next day after two o'clock")

"Да будет свет!"
("Let there be light!")

The non-yes-"да" brings about additional emotions in your speech, gives you space to express those in spoken language. "Да нет" can be spoken both as a sad affirmation and as a joyful reassurance — your voice comes into play to make it into what you want.