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I'm curious to know if there is any history between the usages of "yeah-no" and "no-yeah" in English, and if the usage of the two terms or an equivalent is used in other languages. Also, is there a distinct difference in meaning between the two phrases in terms of usage and context or are they interchangeable? I've noticed a lot of people including myself tend to use both in everyday language. Example usage:

Person A: I think pizzas are pretty awesome.

Person B: No-yeah, pizzas are definitely awesome.

Community
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Chad
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  • "Yeah no" is from Australia, I'm pretty sure it originated there too. I don't think I've really encountered "no yeah". – hippietrail Mar 21 '14 at 14:13
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    see this post on language log –  Mar 21 '14 at 15:47
  • Russian has "yes no" which means something like "well, no". This can be a coincidence, though, as there's a particle which sounds exactly like "yes" but has a different meaning. There's a joke about confusing foreigners by answering, literally, "yes no maybe" to a question – carsten Jan 30 '15 at 23:53
  • FWIW, in Hebrew ken lo "yes no" is fairly common, but I don't recall ever having heard lo ken "no yes". – TKR Feb 05 '17 at 22:25
  • I've spoken English almost every day of my life and I've never come across this!? – Omar and Lorraine Apr 07 '17 at 01:39

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there's also a similar phrase in german and south african. Americans use this a lot, too so I doubt it originated in Australia, but possibly has common origins before that. It might have been studied most in Australian English, but it's very prevalent in the U.S. also.

Janel Kane
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