Yes
A “yes” in the American context is more rule than exception. Americans almost instinctively say “yes” to assisting a colleague, to a new task, to a project, often without reflecting on whether they have the time, resources and interest to meet them. However, the American „yes” can signal different degrees of binding character. The degree to which the “yes” is binding, or reliable, depends on many contextual factors. And these are clarified by questions about time, resources, interest, and other obligations. Emaples
No
A “no” in the American context is more exception than rule. Americans pride themselves on being a can-do people, of being open, helpful, good-neigbors. Americans believe in cooperation, teamwork, volunteerism. To reject a request out of hand is to negate these values. An American “no” comes, therefore, in the form of a conditional “yes” signalling the reasons why assistance is regretfully not possible. Examples
Context
Because follow-up is frequent, and because agreements can increase and decrease in priority, they can be entered into quickly without their overall context having been discussed in detail. The parties of an agreement are in constant communication with each other. Full context information need not be communicated all at once, during the very first conversation. Examples
Follow-up
In the American context, because people enter into many agreements and on a constant basis, follow-up is a necessity. It is how Americans maintain a common understanding of the status and priority of an agreement. In many cases, parties to an agreement arrange predetermined times to communicate with each other. They schedule their follow-up. Examples
Delivery
Because rapid response time is so important, Americans expect initial parts of a deliverable as quickly as possible. For the partial deliverable early often meets the needs of the other party better than the complete product on time. The remaining parts of the deliverable are then supplied promptly. Speed is preferred to completeness. Examples