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Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?".
View the poll results »
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Professionally? I always say no politely and as tactfully as I can if I can’t do the job for whatever reason.
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Hideki Yoshida
Japan
Local time: 00:14
Member (2024)
English to Japanese
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| If the poll is about language... | Mar 17 |
Perhaps because I'm Japanese, I feel like saying "yes" in the following situations:
1. When I comprehend what the speaker is saying.
2. When the speaker is using a negative form and I agree with the negation.
I suppose that's not really what this poll is asking for, though.
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Michael Newton 
United States
Local time: 11:14
Japanese to English
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In Japan, when someone makes a request that the other party is unable or unwilling to carry out, instead of saying "no" which would be impolite, they may say the following:
(1) "kangaete okimasu" ("I'll think about it"). It means "no".
(2) "muzukashii" ("It's difficult"). It means "no"
I once heard a conversation between two Japanese when a request was made. There were five iterations of "I'll think about it" back and forth. Eventually the person making the request gave up.
... See more In Japan, when someone makes a request that the other party is unable or unwilling to carry out, instead of saying "no" which would be impolite, they may say the following:
(1) "kangaete okimasu" ("I'll think about it"). It means "no".
(2) "muzukashii" ("It's difficult"). It means "no"
I once heard a conversation between two Japanese when a request was made. There were five iterations of "I'll think about it" back and forth. Eventually the person making the request gave up.
But I do remember in a cafe a waiter asked a patron to move his seat. The patron responded: "Okotowari shimasu" ("I'm not doing it", 'request denied"). Sometimes it makes sense to stand your ground.
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 17:14
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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(Finally a relevant translation-related question.)
Amazingly I've had some of the most busy first three months of the year in many years. Long, large jobs and short and medium-length jobs. It's difficult to say "no" when you're used to famine. Plus sometimes the deadlines stack up in such a way that they all arrive at roughly the same time, and then it's a mad dash to the finish line with a lot less sleep. Plus I'm trying not to cancel social and societal engagements to make tho... See more (Finally a relevant translation-related question.)
Amazingly I've had some of the most busy first three months of the year in many years. Long, large jobs and short and medium-length jobs. It's difficult to say "no" when you're used to famine. Plus sometimes the deadlines stack up in such a way that they all arrive at roughly the same time, and then it's a mad dash to the finish line with a lot less sleep. Plus I'm trying not to cancel social and societal engagements to make those deadlines. I'm so busy that I'm actually quite a bit behind on invoicing.
And I sometimes say "yes" to jobs that I know I'd hate, because I don't want to disappoint a regular client. And then I curse all afternoon. In particular I dislike jobs where I can't speed up the process by working cleverer, e.g. work that involve watching videos at 1x speed or filling in surveys with dummy answers to trigger the right kinds of strings to show up. I'm either very good at this (which is why they keep coming back to me) or I'm the only one dumb enough to keep saying "yes".
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:
Professionally? I always say no politely and as tactfully as I can if I can’t do the job for whatever reason.
I do often also say "no" when a job would simply take up too much time for too little reward. But when a big fish lands, I find it hard to say "we'll grab the next one".
[Edited at 2026-03-17 07:55 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Daryo
Local time: 16:14
Serbian to English
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| The small problem is | Mar 17 |
that you DON'T always know whether you should say 'yes' or 'no' at the time when you have to decide what to say.
Knowing for sure what should have been done when it no longer can make any difference - ça me fait une belle jambe ...
In that sense this is a pointless question.
A relevant question would be: do you hesitate to say 'no' when you're sure it's the right answer, and/or keep asking more questions so you can make up your mind at th... See more that you DON'T always know whether you should say 'yes' or 'no' at the time when you have to decide what to say.
Knowing for sure what should have been done when it no longer can make any difference - ça me fait une belle jambe ...
In that sense this is a pointless question.
A relevant question would be: do you hesitate to say 'no' when you're sure it's the right answer, and/or keep asking more questions so you can make up your mind at the point it time when it matters. ▲ Collapse
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:14
Italian to English
ProZ.com Staff wrote:
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?". View the poll results »
When I was working as an architect, an Italian colleague once gave me the following sage advice: always say yes to everything, because then afterwards you can always change your mind. But if you say no, that's the end and you'll never get that second chance.
This applies to everything.
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 17:14
English to French
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Tom in London wrote:
ProZ.com Staff wrote:
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?". View the poll results »
When I was working as an architect, an Italian colleague once gave me the following sage advice: always say yes to everything, because then afterwards you can always change your mind. But if you say no, that's the end and you'll never get that second chance.
This applies to everything.
Yes but in the professional world changing your mind too much is considered unprofessional and you’ll soon lose credibility in those circles. That advice looks smart in theory, only in theory.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:14
Italian to English
Lingua 5B wrote:
Tom in London wrote:
ProZ.com Staff wrote:
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?". View the poll results »
When I was working as an architect, an Italian colleague once gave me the following sage advice: always say yes to everything, because then afterwards you can always change your mind. But if you say no, that's the end and you'll never get that second chance.
This applies to everything.
Yes but in the professional world changing your mind too much is considered unprofessional and you’ll soon lose credibility in those circles. That advice looks smart in theory, only in theory.
The third option is to ask for more information, without saying yes or no.
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| How often? - Often enough! | Mar 20 |
Saying "yes" when you should say "no" displays a willingness to learn from the consequences of your decisions, regardless of how things might turn out. It generates new challenges, new opportunities for personal, social and professional development. And there's always something worthwhile to be learned in the process.
I've done it many times in the past half-century or more. I recommend it!
JL
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Tom in London wrote:
ProZ.com Staff wrote:
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?". View the poll results »
When I was working as an architect, an Italian colleague once gave me the following sage advice: always say yes to everything, because then afterwards you can always change your mind. But if you say no, that's the end and you'll never get that second chance.
This applies to everything.
Ciao Tom
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:14
Italian to English
[quote]Angie Garbarino wrote:
Ciao Tom
Ciao Angie
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Weren't you going to be saying "no" to renewing your ProZ membership? What made you say "yes" in the end?
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:14
Italian to English
TranslationCe wrote:
Weren't you going to be saying "no" to renewing your ProZ membership? What made you say "yes" in the end?
I said "yes" to Proz for many years. That gave me the option to say "no" at a later stage. That later stage has now arrived.
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If the question is: Cake?
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