In-negative / Confusion url
To someone explaining calculus
- I haven’t the foggiest/slightest/vaguest idea of what you’re talking about.
- I can’t make heads or tails of it.
- I don’t understand.
- Whatever do you mean?
- You’ve got me stumped.
- I don’t know what to make of it.
- It doesn’t make any sense.
- How could that possibly be?
- It’s Greek to me.
To someone explaining calculus
Out-positive / Encouragement url
To a student who just solved a difficult math problem
- That’s a brilliant deduction.
- You’re as smart as a whip.
- You’re really catching on.
- That’s a step in the right direction.
- You’ve got that down pat.
- Nobody can do it better.
- You should be proud of yourself.
- You’re a pretty smart cookie.
- I’ll be happy/glad to write a letter of recommendation for you.
To a student who just solved a difficult math problem
Out-positive / Agreement url
There’s nothing like a good, brisk walk.
- That very well may be true.
- I won’t argue with you.
- You hit it on the head.
- It really hits the spot.
- You’ve got a good point.
- I’ll grant you that.
- I can verify what you’re saying from personal experience.
- It make’s good sense.
- That’s understandable.
There’s nothing like a good, brisk walk.
Out-positive / Concern url
After a friend has just been robbed
- Are you alright?
- Get a hold of yourself.
- It’s not the end of the world.
- You can’t blame yourself.
- You’re shaking like a leaf.
- You’re as white as a ghost.
- It’s not your day.
- You’re as stiff as a board.
- It’s not something you could have been prepared for.
- It totally came out of the blue and took you completely by surprised.
- Day by day, this is something that you will gradually recover from.
- Take it from me, in a little while this will recede into the background of everything else in your life.
- I find your story absolutely heartbreaking.
After a friend has just been robbed
In-negative / Desperation url
An addict
- Why is this so hard?
- I’m at the end of my rope.
- Things seem to be falling apart.
- I need it bad.
- What’s the use?
- I have nothing to live for.
- I’m grasping at straws.
- I have nowhere to turn to.
- There’s nothing to live for.
- I feel like I’m like beating my head against a brick wall.
- I’ve got a dark cloud hanging over me.
- For the longest time it’s just been one thing after another.
- I just can’t bring myself to change for the better.
- I don’t think I’m going to make it.
- I just can’t go on like this.
- Some days it doesn’t pay to get up in the morning.
- Sometimes I feel that I’m damned if I do, and damned if I don’t.
- I’m getting nowhere fast.
- It’s no use.
- I feel sick like a dog.
- I appreciate your advice, but that's all easier said that done.
An addict
In-positive / Surprise url
Finding something after searching for it
- I looked all over the place for it, but all the time it was right under my nose.
- It seemed to disappear into thin air.
- I looked for it in the same place a hundred times, and it was right in front of eyes the whole time.
- It appeared out of thin air.
- It seemed to vanish off the face of the earth.
- I can’t believe I finally found it!
- Don’t that beat all?
Finding something after searching for it
Out-neutral / Advice url
Perspective-2
- You got to remember that.
- Truth is stranger than fiction.
- Things are not always what they seem.
- The whole is sometimes bigger than the sum of its parts.
- Take stock of your future.
- Try to put yourself in his shoes.
- Don’t take things for granted.
- Saying and doing are entirely different things.
- Live each day as if it were the last.
- Today is all you have.
- You can’t generalize, every situation is different.
Perspective-2
Out-neutral / Negotiating url
Let’s work things out-1
- Meet me half way.
- Be a good sport.
- I don’t want to cause friction between us.
- No hard feelings, OK?
- Don’t take it personally.
- Let’s get that out of the way.
- That shouldn’t be a problem.
- If that’s what you want.
- If you say so.
- I think that might be in order.
- Let’s call it a truce.
- Let’s agree to disagree.
Let’s work things out-1
In-negative / Explaining url
After shoving a neighbor in a fight
- It was just a misunderstanding.
- I can’t explain it.
- I admit it, I cracked under pressure.
- I would like to try to set things straight.
- It’s all my fault.
- I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- There’s a first time for everything.
- I acted on impulse.
- What can I say?
- I was taken off guard.
- Don’t get the wrong impression.
- Things just got out of hand.
- My pride got in the way.
- I hope I didn’t come on too strong.
- My emotions got the better of me.
- I really didn’t intend for things to turn out the way they did.
After shoving a neighbor in a fight
In-negative / Doubt url
A skeptical Investor questioning an entrepreneur about startup
- When you get right down to it, it seems that there’s more going on than meets the eye.
- How can you be so sure of that?
- That raises yet another question.
- That’s the 64,000 dollar question.
- If you re-examine the whole situation, you’ll find that’s not the case at all.
- There’s more to it than meets the eye.
- You don’t have a shred of evidence.
- You don’t know what you’re saying.
- You never know how it’s going to turn out.
- I have no idea what you’re talking about.
- It leaves a lot to be desired.
- What you are describing sounds like a pipe-dream.
- What are you trying to accomplish?
- After what you’ve told me, I’m more skeptical than ever.
- That’s just the other side of the same coin.
- The bottom line is that, as far as I'm concerned, when it comes to knowing if it's a good decision or not, the jury is still out.
- You can take it any way you like.
A skeptical Investor questioning an entrepreneur about startup
Out-neutral / Advice url
Honesty
- The ends don’t justify the means.
- Tell it like it is.
- Keep it clean.
- You should set a good example.
- Honesty is the best policy.
- You can’t go wrong by being straight.
- Be a straight-shooter.
Honesty
In-neutral / Caution url
Thinking of taking a high interest loan
- What am I getting myself into this time?
- I hope that this is not something that I will live to regret.
- I have to ask myself, is it worth it?
- If I’m mistaken, things could all come tumbling down.
- I should know better than that.
- There’s got to be an easier way.
- Don’t do anything precipitously that you can’t easily undo.
- I could end up in trouble up to my ears.
- I shouldn’t get myself involved with something that I can’t get out of.
- Let’s cool our heels, and be patient and wait to see what happens.
- I should have realized from the very beginning that it’s important not to spend a lot more than you earn if you don’t want to end up being saddled with a lot of debt - and now it doesn't look as if I have any good options to choose from.
Thinking of taking a high interest loan