I need to get used to the British way of responding with “No” when they really agree with you. For example, in response to “The weather’s not looking good,” I would say “Yeah.” The British say “No.” (No, it isn’t.) It’s a bit jarring — feels like they’re disagreeing. For instance,
“London isn’t expensive.”
“No.” (what? you’re saying it’s expensive?)
“I don’t have a ticket.”
“No.” (what? you’re telling me I have a ticket?)
“There’s not enough room.”
“No.”
etc. Quite disorienting. I guess it’s also a little more hard work. You have to keep track of when to say “Yes” and when to say “No”.
All three questions seem to suggest a negative property. COuld it be that they are saying “No?” as a way of confirming your observation?
I meant so start with ‘All three observations…”..
I think now it’s the time to teach them back, what we learned from them.