Today’s (December 7) Washington Post carries the following quote from the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s remark on the back-and-forth debates of raising the debt ceiling in the congress as the Quote of the Day.
“What we have here is a case of Republicans here in the Senate once
again not taking yes for an answer. Now the Republican leader
objects to his own idea. So I guess we have a filibuster of his own
bill."
I don’t think I’ve heard the phrase “Take yes,” though I say and hear “Say yes / no” pretty often.
I found “Take yes” by “googling” in the title of the book, “Why Great Leaders Don't Take Yes for an Answer: Managing for Conflict and Consensus” written by Michael A. Roberto, professor of Management at Bryant University and visiting associate professor of New York University.
From the context of Mr. Reid’s quote and the above title of a book, I guess “Take yes for an answer” means to make a resolute decision, or vote for Yes to go forward, but am not sure.
How does “Take yes” differ from the colloquial “Say yes”? Is it a popular word like “say yes / no,” or a political or management terminology?
Best Answer
The stock phrase “not take no for an answer” means to persevere in one’s purpose, undeterred by the refusal of others to cooperate. “Not take yes for an answer” is a humorous or rhetorical inversion.
So when Sen. Reid says the Republicans are “once again not taking yes for an answer” he is claiming that although he has agreed to what they have asked for —given them “yes” for an answer— they are continuing to find fault and create objections. They are, he suggests, persevering in their badly-masked purpose, to impede Democratic efforts to achieve compromise, and are undeterred by Sen. Reid’s expressed willingness to cooperate.