This charming and thoughtful essay is an excerpt from the Italian writer Federico Roncoroni’s book Words: A Private Dictionary [Parole: Un dizionario privato]. Roncoroni talks about the word “Yes” and how many shades of meaning and emotion even a tiny word can express. Translated and adapted from the Italian by Zack Rogow. Thanks to Sabrina Orefici for bringing this essay to my attention.
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| Federico Roncoroni (1944–2021) |
It takes just an instant to pronounce the word Yes, but that little word can have disastrous effects.
In fact, when it’s not used merely to answer in the affirmative a question that is in itself innocent and innocuous (“Do you like pistachio ice cream?”—“Yes”) or to express assent to a specific proposal of limited scope (“We’re gonna go see that new action movie, you wanna come?”—“Yes”) there is the risk that the word will bind you to a solemn commitment, a promise or a choice with effects that can last a lifetime (“Do you take for your lawfully wedded spouse…”— “Yes”). Everyone knows that answering Yes to such a question has serious consequences, much heavier than being considered a pistachio ice cream lover or spending a bad evening sitting through a boring film in the company of boring friends.
The affirmative and binding force of this little word is reinforced by the fact that this one syllable is actually the equivalent of an entire sentence: “Did you buy the newspaper?” “Yes” (I bought the newspaper). So, if you really can’t use its opposite, which is just as short but disengages rather than engages (if you say Yes you’re definitely signing on for something, but if you say No you’re turning in the opposite direction), it’s advisable just to keep quiet and hide behind expressions like “Don’t know,” or “Lemme think about it,” or “We’ll see.”
This little word is no less dangerous on the level of significance, rich as it is in shades of meaning depending on your intonation, how you say it, and the pitch you use to release that phoneme, all of which communicate a vast array of sensations and emotions, not always easy to decipher.
In actuality, a simple Yes can be, depending on the situation, whispered murmured susurrated meowed stammered barked shouted screamed or muttered under your breath. It can be beseeched requested imposed extorted or demanded. A Yes can be spontaneous sudden impulsive hasty sincere frank blunt cordial false treacherous forced unexpected expected sarcastic providential advantageous or disadvantageous wrong useless absurd too late liberating enthusiastic formal warm festive passionate cold icy humiliating or servile. A Yes can be conclusive decisive determinant and even definitive.
It can open up new horizons and perspectives, or it can get you into deep trouble trap and ensnare.
Yes can also be used ironically to say that you really have no intention of doing what the other person requested: “Yes…sure, tomorrow,” or “Yes, in your dreams.”
When repeated, a Yes can mean forceful agreement, or more often doubt, depending on the tone: “Yes, yes… of course I believe you.”
Please avoid substituting for Yes the word Affirmative, which is best left to military personnel, and also avoid saying Absolutely, a highly ambiguous word at best.
If you just precede Yes with an article, which is, of all parts of speech the most attentive servant, the word Yes can also function as a noun:
“Was that a Yes?”
“All in favor? The Yeses have it.”
No less a writer than Dante immortalized the Yes as a noun in Canto XXXIII of The Inferno, using it to portray his homeland:
Italy “…that beautiful country where the Yes resounds.”
from Parole: Un dizionario privato, copyright 2015 by Federico Roncoroni, Marcello Sensini, and Mondadori Education S.p.A. All rights reserved by the copyright holders.
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Zack’s memoir, Hugging My Father’s Ghost
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