There is no good way to answer a request beginning with "do you mind if I......."
If you say yes, it can be interpreted as "yes I mind" or "yes, I give you permission", if you say no, it can be interpreted as "no, I don't give you permission" or "no, I dont mind". You always end up having to clarify.
Or you're Australian and you go yeah, nah, or nah, yeah, depending on the situation, of course.
One word: Proceed
One word: Don't.
Reply in the negative: "Yes, fuck off."
Reply in the affirmative: "No, go ahead."
Go for it. / I wouldn't do that
I often say "go ahead". I still find it annoying I can't just say yes or no without risk of it being misinterpreted
I mean, those all sound like good ways to answer. Sometimes a single word response just isn't sufficient.
It would be sufficient to say yes or no if people didn't insist on asking in a negative way. Why not say "can i" or "would it be okay if i" instead of asking in such a way that yes means no
And this is why double negatives are in general frowned upon in the English language, because they make the content much more difficult to understand.
That's exactly how cops tend to entrap people.ask questions that can be either way and that way they always get the answer they want even if you didn't mean It like that.
Unless you're a character trapped in a logic problem that dictates that you can only answer yes or no, I can see that being a problem.
But, for anyone existing in the real world, you can always just say exactly what you mean.
You have innumerable replies. Of course there's a good way. It's as simple as 'yes, I mind' or 'no, I don't mind'.
Why would you limit yourself to just yes or no, the obviously confusing answers?
I've always found that "DO NOT DO THAT" works pretty well. :-)
Do you mind if I do not do that?
"go for it"
The question is do you mind, with minding as the subject of the question. Answering yes or no is perfectly acceptable.
Be mindful: this is a common cop trick to manufacture consent.
But people often interpret it the opposite way you mean it
People interpret it any way they want. You're gonna meet people with different levels of comprehension in life. For those people you elaborate. Yes I mind, no I do not mind. Done.
This is my private domicile and I will not be harassed, BITCH!
"Yes, I do mind! Drop the fucking mouse, I said we're listening to Melodic Noise!" There, should cover all the bases!
Edit: shitty idea no. 2 would be to go the passive-aggressive pedantic asshole route, where you just say "sure" then throw a fit when they go ahead and do that, and start spewing semantics at them.
"yes. I do mind"
"No. I don't mind"
You could take the question for what it is - a person's polite way of acknowledging you in their orbit and that their actions may affect you. This is an extremely rare attitude. Most people express entitlement instead of kindness. If people around you are actively trying to be less self-centered, the best way to respond is by acknowledging that they are being considerate and answering their question. Pretending not to understand what they mean is the last thing you want to do. Always support and encourage behavior you want to see more of. You have more words than "yes" and "no" and while that question literally suggests a binary response, you can always feel free to use your communication skills.
Having to clarify bugs me. They could say "is it alright if I....." and remove the ambiguity
One word answers are not always the best way to answer. They are acceptable only if you are on a big hurry. The best answer would be to form a sentence.
That depends ...
You mind if I finish that cock?
'Fuck you/off/that' = don't do it. 'Whatever' = go ahead.
I think this is where the weird German "doch", that i really can't get my head around, might be useful.
For GenX, "whatever" means "Believe whatever you want to believe. Dipshit."
I feel like playground beating could've been had for less when I was a kid.