Half a yes is better than complete refusal. (Irish) The burden of saying ‘yes’ does not press down on one’s neck. (Yoruban) Yes is surrender....

Yes is a common English word indicating agreement. It is the opposite of no. In English, "yes" is also used to answer a negative question or statement, "Yes" is similar in meaning to "yeah" and "yea," both casual variants of the term. The compound word...