Talk:No problem
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Is this really an encyclopedia article? And if you can justify an article about something so trivial and context-dependent, how can you possibly omit any mention of Jamaica, which would seem central to the phrase? --LDC
- ok, Jamaican and Nigeria get equal billing - and what's interesting about this phrase is the way it seems to be, like "okay" in some contexts, or the infamous Japanese "yes" (which means "yes i hear you" not "yes I agree"), and has reversed meanings seemingly due to the pressures of colonial etiquette (although I did not say that directly). Linguists talk about this but I'm not sure they *write* about it - it's like they don't want to admit that phrases may carry *only* contextual meaning, as that would obsolete their own field.
The fact that you associate it with Jamaica and I associate it with Nigeria is interesting in itself.
Look, there are maybe 100 such phrases in the world, and people *do* ask "what the hell does that mean?" about these things all the time, especially if they don't speak English as a first language. It's an idiom.
Even if we defined all 4000 English idioms here, that wouldn't be too much for any encyclopedia. 4000 out of 100,000 is only 4% of the grand total but they are probably 15% of English usage itself. Dictionaries can't cover them so encyclopedias should.
Dictionaries can and do cover such idioms, and many do a very good job. Some of them can't keep up with the pace of creation of new ones very well, though. Larry was very adamant that Wikipedia is not a dictionary, but I'm quite happy to include dictionary entries here--just make sure they actually say something useful. -- Lee Daniel Crocker
I think citing two extreme meanings is useful. I personally know people who have heard the phrase "no problem" to mean both things, in Canada and Nigeria, respectively.
The problem is that dictionaries must report the original/official meaning of a phrase, i.e. "no problem" means "I'll take care of it" or "there's nothing to worry about". It's possible to cite the extreme meanings in different numbered entries but there is no sense that the phrase couuld mean anything in between...
So, maybe this is the minimal encyclopedia article? Two dictionary meanings and an assertion that the phrase is used to mean everything from one to the other, thus effectively meaning nothing other than "I'm not going to give you any other assurances"... ?
- Here's the old text, in the hopes that someone can extract more content from it. (I didn't want to delete it entirely, so I put it here.) If someone has a cite of "no problem" being used in some of the other senses mentioned here, please add that to the entry. - Rootbeer 2002-04-04
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- I rewrote the whole thing, and subordinated the controversial phrase "viral meme" which LDC seems to think does not exist, despite the fact that the original term "meme" he wants to monopolize for Dawkins' original (unscientific) meaning.
The phrase "no problem" is a viral meme which seems to mean everything from "really, no problem, I've taken care of it and will completely indemnify and insure you for all risks of trusting me and against every conceivable threat to the maximum of my own ability" to "I have just sold you and your firstborn into slavery, to this nice man." It has no real meaning outside of the context in which it is used, and is thus interesting.
A phrase or idiom dictionary translation of "no problem" might read "I'll take care of it" or "there's nothing to worry about". However, it effectively means nothing other than "I'm not going to give you any other assurances" - and thus ends a conversation about whatever risk is about to be incurred. Some think it means roughly the same thing as "shut up".
The article claims (again) that "no problem" can mean both "really, no problem, I've taken care of it and will completely indemnify and insure you for all risks of trusting me and against every conceivable threat to the maximum of my own ability" and "I have just sold you and your firstborn into slavery, to this nice man", and anything in between. Can anyone provide a cite (illustrative example quotation) which clearly demonstrates either of these meanings? Without something to back up this claim, we ought to remove it. - Rootbeer 2002-04-07
- one problem wtih attribution here is that *no one ever admits* that they use "no problem" to mean "not my problem". Certainly that latter usage is cliche, although the illustrative exaggerations may well be just to make the point. I have actually heard stories where someone said "no problem" and had in fact sold a woman and her child into slavery, but it was long ago from a Nigerian... anecdotal. Perhaps we should just refer to "not my problem" and mention apocryphal stories of it meaning that utterly wide range of things? 24
_____ All the more reason for someone to establish a Wiktionary as a separate project. There are so many argumentative people that would succeed there.
- perhaps it's part of the "simplified wikipedia"? i.e. rules in the simplified would allow for simple phrase and idiom help for non-native-speakers. 24
- Perhaps a wikipedia for the simpl! Non-native speakers have the advantage that when they learn an english term it is not prejudiced by the belief that they thought they knew what it meant.
To get back to "no problem", I am left puzzled by what people mean when they use it a cliché response to "thank you" instead of what used to be "you're welcome." Eclecticology
- that's one of many puzzlements about this phrase, to be sure - all worth noting 24
- Simple answer to your question. I use it all the time to mean, "My work required next-to-zero effort. It was no problem for me to perform this task for you."68.126.28.69 04:03, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)
I'm afraid that this particular article is more a combination of a dictionary entry and a page from a usage guide. However, it does contain useful information. Perhaps it would be better to write an article entitled stock phrase, and use this information as an example. Oh, and I commonly use the phrase as a response to "thank you". I've always taken it to mean "My action was not unduly stressful or problematic, so please do not think that I was put out in doing it." --Stephen Gilbert
