[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

"Could you please..." "Yes"



That was an interesting insight re: the child's "please" form vs. the
adult's "could you" form. I have also frequently encountered the annoying
practice of answering a "Could you..." request with "Yes" or "No" rather
than supplying the data actually sought. ("Could you tell me what time it
is?" "Yes".) I assume this has something to do with Lisp's "P-convention",
as in "Time-P?" The answer to this is, of course "T" or "NIL", but the
question is *really* asking "What time is it?" So in Lojban, the answer to
"Do you know what time it is" would have to be "Yes" or "No", right?