ProZ.com Translation Forums

Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”? | I said "yes" to Cake about 20 years ago...

Cilian O'Tuama — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 03:05:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?
Poster: Cilian O'Tuama
Post title: I said "yes" to Cake about 20 years ago...

[quote]The Shredder wrote:

If the question is: Cake? [/quote]

...and they're playing here again in September.

[url removed]

Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”? | I always say yes

The Shredder — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 22:37:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?
Poster: The Shredder
Post title: I always say yes

If the question is: Cake?

Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”? | OPtion

Tom in London — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?
Poster: Tom in London
Post title: OPtion

[quote]TranslationCe wrote:

Weren't you going to be saying "no" to renewing your ProZ membership? What made you say "yes" in the end? [/quote]

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.

Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”? | @Tom

TranslationCe — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 15:07:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?
Poster: TranslationCe
Post title: @Tom

Weren't you going to be saying "no" to renewing your ProZ membership? What made you say "yes" in the end?

Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”? | Ciao Angie

Tom in London — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 13:36:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?
Poster: Tom in London
Post title: Ciao Angie

[quote]Angie Garbarino wrote:

[quote]
Ciao Tom [/quote]

Ciao Angie

Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”? | Typical

Angie Garbarino — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 19:46:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?
Poster: Angie Garbarino
Post title: Typical

[quote]Tom in London wrote:

[quote]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 »

[/quote]

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. [/quote]

Ciao Tom

Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”? | How often? - Often enough!

Jennifer Levey — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 13:17:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?
Poster: Jennifer Levey
Post title: How often? - Often enough!

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

Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”? | The third option

Tom in London — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 11:30:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?
Poster: Tom in London
Post title: The third option

[quote]Lingua 5B wrote:

[quote]Tom in London wrote:

[quote]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 »

[/quote]

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. [/quote]

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. [/quote]

The third option is to ask for more information, without saying yes or no.

Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”? | Yes but

Lingua 5B — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 15:31:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?
Poster: Lingua 5B
Post title: Yes but

[quote]Tom in London wrote:

[quote]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 »

[/quote]

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. [/quote]

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.

Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”? | Always say yes

Tom in London — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 15:01:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?
Poster: Tom in London
Post title: Always say yes

[quote]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 »

[/quote]

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.

Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”? | The small problem is

Daryo — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 13:16:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?
Poster: Daryo
Post title: The small problem is

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.

Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”? | Too often

Samuel Murray — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 07:53:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?
Poster: Samuel Murray
Post title: Too often

(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".

[quote]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. [/quote]
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]

Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”? | "yes" and "non"

Michael Newton — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 03:05:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?
Poster: Michael Newton
Post title: "yes" and "non"

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.
"

Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”? | If the poll is about language...

Hideki Yoshida — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 01:44:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?
Poster: Hideki Yoshida
Post title: If the poll is about language...

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.

Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”? | N/A

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 23:44:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?
Poster: Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Post title: N/A

Professionally? I always say no politely and as tactfully as I can if I can’t do the job for whatever reason.

Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?

ProZ.com Staff — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 17:54:27 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: How often do you say “yes” when you should say “no”?
Poster: ProZ.com Staff

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 »