I have a question about the following sentences from a novel.

"You're well north of a course to Norway. Please explain, over."
"Y'all read the damned papers, Navy? It's liable to get dangerous out here, and this big ole ship costs money. We got orders from the home office to keep close to some friendly folks. Hell, we're glad to see ya, boy. Y'all want to escort us a ways?"
"Roger, copy. Doctor Lykes, be advised no submarines known to be in this area."
"Y'all guarantee that?"
This drew a laugh. "Not hardly, Doc."
"That's about what I thought, Navy.
("Red Storm Rising" by Tom Clancy)

context (or situation):
1) In North Atlantic, a cargo ship with "Doctor Lykes" painted on the sides of the hull, is sailing.
2) Actually, it's a Russian vessel pretending to be otherwise.
3) A U.S. patrol aircraft of Navy has spotted it, and is talking to it on radio.
4) Media are beginning to report on suspicious moves by the Soviets in Europe.

question: About "not hardly".
Here're two interpretations I've come up with.

"Not hardly" here means:
1) We can't guarantee that doubtlessly," a crewman of the aircraft said jokingly.
2) There should be no submarines here obviously," he said seriously.

I can't be certain which sentence "not hardly" responds to: "no submarines known to be in this area" or ""Y'all guarantee that?"

On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 4:32:20 PM UTC-4, tonbei wrote:
> I have a question about the following sentences from a novel.
>
> "You're well north of a course to Norway. Please explain, over."
> "Y'all read the damned papers, Navy? It's liable to get dangerous out here, and this big ole ship costs money. We got orders from the home office to keep close to some friendly folks. Hell, we're glad to see ya, boy. Y'all want to escort us a ways?"
> "Roger, copy. Doctor Lykes, be advised no submarines known to be in this area."
> "Y'all guarantee that?"
> This drew a laugh. "Not hardly, Doc."
> "That's about what I thought, Navy.
> ("Red Storm Rising" by Tom Clancy)
>
> context (or situation):
> 1) In North Atlantic, a cargo ship with "Doctor Lykes" painted on the sides of the hull, is sailing.
> 2) Actually, it's a Russian vessel pretending to be otherwise.
> 3) A U.S. patrol aircraft of Navy has spotted it, and is talking to it on radio.
> 4) Media are beginning to report on suspicious moves by the Soviets in Europe.
>
> question: About "not hardly".
> Here're two interpretations I've come up with.
>
> "Not hardly" here means:
> 1) We can't guarantee that doubtlessly," a crewman of the aircraft said jokingly.
> 2) There should be no submarines here obviously," he said seriously.
>
> I can't be certain which sentence "not hardly" responds to: "no submarines known to be in this area" or ""Y'all guarantee that?"

The guarantee, and (1) is the obvious meaning, and they're very
unceertain that the coast is clear. here will proably be an attack
in the next chapter.

On Sun, 17 Apr 2022 13:32:17 -0700 (PDT), tonbei <autosu@infoseek.jp>
wrote:

>I have a question about the following sentences from a novel.
>
>"You're well north of a course to Norway. Please explain, over."
>"Y'all read the damned papers, Navy? It's liable to get dangerous out here, and this big ole ship costs money. We got orders from the home office to keep close to some friendly folks. Hell, we're glad to see ya, boy. Y'all want to escort us a ways?"
>"Roger, copy. Doctor Lykes, be advised no submarines known to be in this area."
>"Y'all guarantee that?"
>This drew a laugh. "Not hardly, Doc."
>"That's about what I thought, Navy.
> ("Red Storm Rising" by Tom Clancy)
>
>context (or situation):
>1) In North Atlantic, a cargo ship with "Doctor Lykes" painted on the sides of the hull, is sailing.
>2) Actually, it's a Russian vessel pretending to be otherwise.
>3) A U.S. patrol aircraft of Navy has spotted it, and is talking to it on radio.
>4) Media are beginning to report on suspicious moves by the Soviets in Europe.
>
>question: About "not hardly".
>Here're two interpretations I've come up with.
>
>"Not hardly" here means:
>1) We can't guarantee that doubtlessly," a crewman of the aircraft said jokingly.
>2) There should be no submarines here obviously," he said seriously.
>
>I can't be certain which sentence "not hardly" responds to: "no submarines known to be in this area" or ""Y'all guarantee that?"

The long version definition for "not hardly" is "not at all possible".
"Navy" is saying that it is not possible to guarantee that no
submarines are in the area.

It is one of those idiomatic phrases that is not deducible from the
components.
--

Tony Cooper - Orlando Florida

I read and post to this group as a form of entertainment.

"Tonbei":
> "...be advised no submarines known to be in this area."
> "Y'all guarantee that?"
> This drew a laugh. "Not hardly, Doc."
> ... ("Red Storm Rising" by Tom Clancy)
...
> question: About "not hardly".

It just means "hardly", or maybe it's a bit stronger than that.
That is, "We can hardly guarantee it, Doc." (He laughed when he
said it because he knew the other man already knew that, but
asked the question anyway.)

See: http://grammarist.com/usage/not-hardly

--
Mark Brader, "Technically, it is readable by a human being."
Toronto, msb@vex.net -- David Slocombe

My text in this article is in the public domain.

On Sun, 17 Apr 2022 18:10:08 -0500, msb@vex.net (Mark Brader) wrote:

>"Tonbei":
>> "...be advised no submarines known to be in this area."
>> "Y'all guarantee that?"
>> This drew a laugh. "Not hardly, Doc."
>> ... ("Red Storm Rising" by Tom Clancy)
> ...
>> question: About "not hardly".
>
>It just means "hardly", or maybe it's a bit stronger than that.
>That is, "We can hardly guarantee it, Doc." (He laughed when he
>said it because he knew the other man already knew that, but
>asked the question anyway.)
>
>See: http://grammarist.com/usage/not-hardly

The problem Tonbei might have is that "hardly" (adverb) is defined as
"scarcely" and "not hardly" could be deduced as "not scarce" and
thought to mean "plentiful". The opposite is the actual meaning of
the idiom.

--

Tony Cooper - Orlando Florida

I read and post to this group as a form of entertainment.

On 2022-04-17 21:28:14 +0000, Tony Cooper said:

> On Sun, 17 Apr 2022 13:32:17 -0700 (PDT), tonbei <autosu@infoseek.jp>
> wrote:
>
>> I have a question about the following sentences from a novel.
>>
>> "You're well north of a course to Norway. Please explain, over."
>> "Y'all read the damned papers, Navy? It's liable to get dangerous out
>> here, and this big ole ship costs money. We got orders from the home
>> office to keep close to some friendly folks. Hell, we're glad to see
>> ya, boy. Y'all want to escort us a ways?"
>> "Roger, copy. Doctor Lykes, be advised no submarines known to be in this area."
>> "Y'all guarantee that?"
>> This drew a laugh. "Not hardly, Doc."
>> "That's about what I thought, Navy.
>> ("Red Storm Rising" by Tom Clancy)
>>
>> context (or situation):
>> 1) In North Atlantic, a cargo ship with "Doctor Lykes" painted on the
>> sides of the hull, is sailing.
>> 2) Actually, it's a Russian vessel pretending to be otherwise.
>> 3) A U.S. patrol aircraft of Navy has spotted it, and is talking to it
>> on radio.
>> 4) Media are beginning to report on suspicious moves by the Soviets in Europe.
>>
>> question: About "not hardly".
>> Here're two interpretations I've come up with.
>>
>> "Not hardly" here means:
>> 1) We can't guarantee that doubtlessly," a crewman of the aircraft
>> said jokingly.
>> 2) There should be no submarines here obviously," he said seriously.
>>
>> I can't be certain which sentence "not hardly" responds to: "no
>> submarines known to be in this area" or ""Y'all guarantee that?"
>
> The long version definition for "not hardly" is "not at all possible".
> "Navy" is saying that it is not possible to guarantee that no
> submarines are in the area.
>
> It is one of those idiomatic phrases

In American English maybe, but I would have the same problem as tonbei.

> that is not deducible from the
> components.

--
Athel -- French and British, living mainly in England until 1987.

On 4/17/2022 4:32 PM, tonbei wrote:

> I have a question about the following sentences from a novel.

> "You're well north of a course to Norway. Please explain, over."
> "Y'all read the damned papers, Navy? It's liable to get dangerous
> out here, and this big ole ship costs money. We got orders from the
> home office to keep close to some friendly folks. Hell, we're glad to
> see ya, boy. Y'all want to escort us a ways?" "Roger, copy. Doctor
> Lykes, be advised no submarines known to be in this area." "Y'all
> guarantee that?" This drew a laugh. "Not hardly, Doc." "That's about
> what I thought, Navy. ("Red Storm Rising" by Tom Clancy)

> context (or situation): 1) In North Atlantic, a cargo ship with
> "Doctor Lykes" painted on the sides of the hull, is sailing. 2)
> Actually, it's a Russian vessel pretending to be otherwise. 3) A
> U.S. patrol aircraft of Navy has spotted it, and is talking to it on
> radio. 4) Media are beginning to report on suspicious moves by the
> Soviets in Europe.

> question: About "not hardly". Here're two interpretations I've come
> up with.

> "Not hardly" here means: 1) We can't guarantee that doubtlessly," a
> crewman of the aircraft said jokingly. 2) There should be no
> submarines here obviously," he said seriously.

> I can't be certain which sentence "not hardly" responds to: "no
> submarines known to be in this area" or ""Y'all guarantee that?"

What comes immediately before the response: "Y'all guarantee that?"

The Russian ship is communicating in a non-standard (but common)
American dialect, perhaps as a kind of camouflage: "Y'all, big ole,
folks, boy, a ways".

Given that the patrol aircraft has been communicating in official,
standard English up to that point, "not hardly" would be a joking
response to the ship's over-use of dialect. It means the same thing as
"hardly" in that context: "not at all, obviously".

So your (2) is correct.

In message <t3jkao$ptr$1@gioia.aioe.org> CDB <bellemarecd@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 4/17/2022 4:32 PM, tonbei wrote:

>> I have a question about the following sentences from a novel.

>> "You're well north of a course to Norway. Please explain, over."
>> "Y'all read the damned papers, Navy? It's liable to get dangerous
>> out here, and this big ole ship costs money. We got orders from the
>> home office to keep close to some friendly folks. Hell, we're glad to
>> see ya, boy. Y'all want to escort us a ways?" "Roger, copy. Doctor
>> Lykes, be advised no submarines known to be in this area." "Y'all
>> guarantee that?" This drew a laugh. "Not hardly, Doc." "That's about
>> what I thought, Navy. ("Red Storm Rising" by Tom Clancy)

>> context (or situation): 1) In North Atlantic, a cargo ship with
>> "Doctor Lykes" painted on the sides of the hull, is sailing. 2)
>> Actually, it's a Russian vessel pretending to be otherwise. 3) A
>> U.S. patrol aircraft of Navy has spotted it, and is talking to it on
>> radio. 4) Media are beginning to report on suspicious moves by the
>> Soviets in Europe.

>> question: About "not hardly". Here're two interpretations I've come
>> up with.

>> "Not hardly" here means: 1) We can't guarantee that doubtlessly," a
>> crewman of the aircraft said jokingly. 2) There should be no
>> submarines here obviously," he said seriously.

>> I can't be certain which sentence "not hardly" responds to: "no
>> submarines known to be in this area" or ""Y'all guarantee that?"

> What comes immediately before the response: "Y'all guarantee that?"

> The Russian ship is communicating in a non-standard (but common)
> American dialect, perhaps as a kind of camouflage: "Y'all, big ole,
> folks, boy, a ways".

> Given that the patrol aircraft has been communicating in official,
> standard English up to that point, "not hardly" would be a joking
> response to the ship's over-use of dialect. It means the same thing as
> "hardly" in that context: "not at all, obviously".

> So your (2) is correct.

No, definitely not. "Not hardly" means the same as "Yeah, right." would
mean, as in, "No, we obviously cannot guarantee that."

--
Can't seem to face up to the facts Tense and nervous and I can't
relax Can't sleep, bed's on fire Don't touch me I'm a real live
wire

On 4/19/2022 4:01 AM, Lewis wrote:
> CDB <bellemarecd@gmail.com> wrote:
>> tonbei wrote:

>>> I have a question about the following sentences from a novel.

>>> "You're well north of a course to Norway. Please explain, over."
>>> "Y'all read the damned papers, Navy? It's liable to get
>>> dangerous out here, and this big ole ship costs money. We got
>>> orders from the home office to keep close to some friendly folks.
>>> Hell, we're glad to see ya, boy. Y'all want to escort us a ways?"
>>> "Roger, copy. Doctor Lykes, be advised no submarines known to be
>>> in this area." "Y'all guarantee that?" This drew a laugh. "Not
>>> hardly, Doc." "That's about what I thought, Navy. ("Red Storm
>>> Rising" by Tom Clancy)

>>> context (or situation): 1) In North Atlantic, a cargo ship with
>>> "Doctor Lykes" painted on the sides of the hull, is sailing. 2)
>>> Actually, it's a Russian vessel pretending to be otherwise. 3) A
>>> U.S. patrol aircraft of Navy has spotted it, and is talking to it
>>> on radio. 4) Media are beginning to report on suspicious moves by
>>> the Soviets in Europe.

>>> question: About "not hardly". Here're two interpretations I've
>>> come up with.

>>> "Not hardly" here means: 1) We can't guarantee that
>>> doubtlessly," a crewman of the aircraft said jokingly. 2) There
>>> should be no submarines here obviously," he said seriously.

>>> I can't be certain which sentence "not hardly" responds to: "no
>>> submarines known to be in this area" or ""Y'all guarantee that?"

>> What comes immediately before the response: "Y'all guarantee
>> that?"

>> The Russian ship is communicating in a non-standard (but common)
>> American dialect, perhaps as a kind of camouflage: "Y'all, big
>> ole, folks, boy, a ways".

>> Given that the patrol aircraft has been communicating in official,
>> standard English up to that point, "not hardly" would be a joking
>> response to the ship's over-use of dialect. It means the same
>> thing as "hardly" in that context: "not at all, obviously".

>> So your (2) is correct.

> No, definitely not. "Not hardly" means the same as "Yeah, right."
> would mean, as in, "No, we obviously cannot guarantee that."

Right. It was a fingo for (1). Thank you.

Tonbei please take note.