Especially pronounced yeah, no, this answer is
an agreement; the “yeah” functions as affirmation, while the “no” could be replaced by the phrase “don’t worry.” (Wikipedia)
The no can actually be interpreted also as, I get you, really, I do believe you, depending on context.
In a post on OUPblog, Professor Edwin L. Battistella (Southern Oregon University in Ashland) says:
“Yeah no” is what linguists call a discourse marker. Discourse markers are usually short and sometime vague-seeming parts of a sentence which serve semantic, expressive, and practical functions in speech. They can indicate assent or dissent (or sometimes both). They can indicate attention, sarcasm, hedging, self-effacement, or face-saving.
LanguageHat quotes Professor Kate Burridge from Monash University, Australia, giving a more systematic classification of uses:
Professor Burridge says the phrase falls into three main categories, each determined by context. The literal agrees before adding another point, the abstract defuses a comment and the textual lets the speaker go back to an earlier point.
Sarah Grieves lists 8 ways you can use the phrase, giving examples from The Spoken British National Corpus
Agreeing, Disagreeing, Partially disagreeing, Showing you’re listening, Introducing a new idea, Showing enthusiasm/emphasising, Hedging/hesitation, Clarifying (Cambridge.org)
This is spoken language, so the use of the expression will be very flexible, with a meaning sometimes not clear to the speaker himself. I personally use it sometimes, for example, to express that not everything is black or white, yes or no.
If you want to read more about it, there is plenty on this post from the LanguageLog.
Addition: I found an article about Yeah, no on Grammarphobia and I can't resist quoting it here:
Even presidents of the United States aren’t immune. When a radio interviewer in 2011 asked Bill Clinton how he felt about being spoofed on TV comedy shows, Ben Yagoda writes,
The former president replied, ‘Oh yeah, no I thought a lot of the Saturday Night Live guys were great.’ ”
Among other examples, the same article gives an example of the phrase being used to express agreement:
The lexicographer Jonathan Lighter quoted a former New York City police detective as saying on CNN:
Yeah, no, you’re right!
Lighter added:
There it seems to mean, ‘Yes indeed, and no, I wouldn’t think of contradicting you.’
It is quite common for responses in English, at least in American English, to contain an affirmative and a negative together. Example:
A. There's a concert in the park tonight. Do you want to go?
B. Yeah, no. I'm too tired.
In such an example, the first word is not really an assent or a confirmation. It is instead a way of saying, "Yes, I understand the situation." The subsequent negation asserts the negative polarity, rejecting the proposal.
Sometimes there will be a flavor of sarcasm to it, and sometimes even two affirmatives together will assert a negative. Example:
A. I saw an alien spacecraft land in a field north of town last night.
B. Yeah, right.
Here there is no doubt that B is contending that A is mistaken, joking, or crazy.
The girl I’m kinda getting a crush on made an instagram account so I followed her and almost immediately she followed me back. After a day or two I text her how have she been and we go back and fourth “good luck w/ high school tho 👍” I told her good luck ask well (we’re starting in to high school soon and we’re going to two different schools ) our schools are near each other so I might see her around so I decided to say something like if i see around to get ready for the smoke (some times we play fight don’t worry I don’t actually hit her) and she responded with (yes sir) please help I’m lost.
I was in a shop and saw underpants that said "yesh" on them. What does that mean???
Okay, so I've been realizing recently that I literally never use the word "yes." It's always either "yeah" or "yup." I use "yeah/yup" with people my age, people that are older, my boss, professors, etc. Idk "yes" just sounds so stiff.
I guess maybe I'd use "yes" if I were in a super formal environment like a formal job interview or meeting with the queen king.
Idk maybe it's a generational thing; I'm gen-z.
Am I alone in this?
Example : “How many times have I watched this video?” “Yes.”
Edit:
I always see the sentences like the example sentence on social media these days so I thought it was like a meme, also I guessed it was a funny things. But some people say that it’s not hilarious at all…😂
Also, I could know it’s too casual to use in a formal situation and we can use the way of answering for “or” questions too.
Thanks for all of your help!!
I'm 67 years old and use "yes" in this context somewhat frequently. It's not a joke, but a humorous response, and it's not restricted to young people or internet use at all. It means that the question itself is somewhat humorous, given the specific person being asked. It also means that the answer is larger or more of the characteristic being questioned than you would expect. The responder is going to be smiling when saying, "Yes!"
Example: Person 1: How much ice cream do you want? Person 2: Yes! (Start scooping and keep going until you fill up the bowl or I tell you to stop.)
Another Example: Person 1: Do you want a Jaguar or a Lamborghini for your free prize car? Person 2: Yes! (My desire for either is so great that I'll take either one.)
I agree with Jason's comments, that these responses sound (if humorous) are supposed to be interpreted similar to a question where one option is supposed to be chosen from many (usu. with implied mutual exclusivity):
What would you like for dessert, ice cream or cake?
Yes. (Implying that I don't want one option, but rather all options)
By answering with purposefully incorrect English, the speaker is trying to give a humorous response.
It seems like an extension of that, for example in the first one:
Engineer: "How large should the rims be on the new model?"
Audi: "Yes"
I take it to mean "Yes, they should be very large, so large that they are almost indescribably/ridiculous for the context". This does not have the implication that the speaker is "high/stupid/not able to speak the language well" in this case, but rather that the speaker is trying to describe an "indescribable" aspect. So instead of giving a proper answer, they give a "joke" answer.
This kind of joke would be strange in this case, since the rims of a car can only be so big. It might apply better to someone designing a Monster Truck, and asking how big they should make the wheels. For example if the engineer is used to designing regular cars that are much smaller, then the person saying this would be implying "way, way bigger than you expect". It is still not the best use of the joke however.
In the second one:
Buddy: "How much weed are you taking with you?"
Snoop Dogg: "Yes"
I would say that this is supposed to imply that the speaker is "high" (mostly because being Snoop Dogg already has that implication). But there is also the implication, since the Buddy asks "how large of an amount", that the answer has an implied "So much weed that it's ridiculous".
In general, I would say that it sounds pretty characteristic of young people "Internet Speak", of people trying to apply a format of a joke they see often in other circumstances. In cases where a "degree" question is asked instead of between a few options, the implication is usually too such a high degree that it is indescribable/funny/ridiculous.
However, most of the humor comes from being it being a reference to the original joke format, rather than being funny by itself. It sounds like what my 10 year-old cousin might use when talking with his friends about Minecraft/Fortnite/whatever else they come up with.