Why is the English language so stupid?
There is an exception to practically every rule. If someone asks you “So, you’re not going to the shops then?” You can answer, “Yes.” or “No.” and both will mean that you’re not going to the shops because that person really was listening when you were speaking before but in recollection they weren’t sure if they were.
I think the answer to my initial question is that people don’t really listen to you, so it doesn’t matter what we say and over time things that don’t really make sense have become acceptable to say.
“Isn’t <insert name here> in?” is another favourite of mine. I’m never quite sure how to respond if they are, in fact, in.
It’s a backwards question. “Is <name> not here?”
“Yes” means they aren’t here, and “No” means they are, but people typically say “No, they aren’t here.”
I eventually cured a lady from admin from using this structure of sentence by asking her to rephrase the question so I could answer it with a single unambiguous yes or no.
Owl.
Heh, yeh. I’ve taken to saying “that is correct” to my husband when he phrases a negative question but last night that didn’t work either – thought he’d given me two choices in his question/statement. I didn’t think so.