On Sunday 01 July 2007 14:53:52 Francesco Poli wrote: > Is "I am afraid it cannot" a definite answer? > It does not even seem to express certainty... > > I am not an English native speaker, so I could be wrong about what > sounds as a definite answer to an English mothertongue's ear. > Should I begin to add IANAENS, to the list of disclaimers? To a native speaker in the USA at least, "I am afraid it cannot" generally has the following connotation: "Apparently you don't realize that I, being an absolute expert in this field, have researched the matter fully over the course of many years and, despite my best efforts to change it and my wishes and prays to the contrary, I am afraid we must conclude with inarguable and absolute certainty that it cannot. Please don't bring this up again." -- Wesley J. Landaker <wjl@icecavern.net> <xmpp:wjl@icecavern.net> OpenPGP FP: 4135 2A3B 4726 ACC5 9094 0097 F0A9 8A4C 4CD6 E3D2
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