yes and no

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yes and no

Partially so, but also partially not. Said of a situation more complex than a simple yes-or-no response. A: "So, would this tax maneuver be illegal?" B: "Well, yes and no. The actual transactions you want to do are perfectly legal, but not when both companies have the same beneficial owner." A: "Was the film any good?" B: Eh, yes and no. It was entertaining, but the plot and characters were totally absurd."

See also: and, no, yes

yes and no

In some ways and not others, as in Did you enjoy yourself?-Yes and no, I liked the music itself but hated the conductor. This idiom, always a reply to a question, was first recorded in 1873.

See also: and, no, yes

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

yes and no

partly and partly not.

1981 Brian Murphy The Enigma Variations ‘Do you believe that if you continue seeing me you'll be damned?’ ‘Yes and no.’

See also: and, no, yes

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

ˌyes and ˈno

said when you cannot answer either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ because the situation is not simple: ‘Have you got a car?’ ‘Well, yes and no. We have, but it’s not working at the moment.’

See also: and, no, yes

yes and no

That is partly true. This equivocal reply to a question dates from the mid-nineteenth century. C. M. Young used it in Pillars of the House: “‘Do you come from his father?’—‘Well, yes and no. His father is still in Oregon.’” A teasing version, originating in the twentieth-century schoolyard, is yes, no, maybe so, meaning, of course, wouldn’t you like to know (the answer)!