7

Like, in an old joke:

Joe and Jack sue each other.
Joe: Sir, Jack let his cows destroy my field. He has to pay me!
Judge: You're right!
Jack: Yes, but I have no other way since the only road had been blocked, I need to go across his land to have grass for my cows, or else my family could be hungry to death.
Judge: You're right!
Then a serving lady comes across and says: But they cannot be right at the same time!
Judge: You're right too!

Then judge is he who agrees with both ideas, even though they contradict to each other. In general, which word to describe a person who agrees with every opinion? Those who may agree with an opinion, then when hearing another opinion they also think it's right.

This word should be of disapproving connotation. In Vietnamese, which is my mother tongue, there's at least one word to call them. The most common one is "ba phai", which is the same as "three rights", that's mean all of the opinions are right from their view. Please help me to find the word. Thank you.

3 Answers 3

2

Yes-man is the word that's very common used for the person who agrees to anything someone says.

0

The first word that comes to mind is yeasayer (see also yeasayer in Collins), which the Urban Dictionary defines as

The opposite of naysayer - in other words a person who habitually expresses positive views, says yes.

When you are looking for an adjective, you could say that such a person is very accommodating (although this sounds positive) or complaisant (which is rather old-fashioned). For a negative adjective, you can use spineless.

0

There are a lot of nouns in English for this, some of which have slightly different meanings, but all of which can describe such a person. I like all of the words listed by others here as well:

yeasayer, yes man (f. yes woman), namby-pamby, milksop, milquetoast, sap, doormat, weakling, wuss, sycophant, lackey, toady, pantywaist, pansy, coward, sissy, toady, ass-kisser, fawner, truckler, groveller bootlicker, apple-polisher.

If he should be one who hesitates as to which opinion he wants to choose because he bounces back and forth from one opinion to the other opposite opinion and back again, he is known by a number of words, but these are the best words:

ditherer, vacillator, shilly-shallier, hesitator / hesitater, waverer.

I hope that might have helped you out. If I have not given you exactly what you had asked for, please let me know and I shall try to accommodate. Take care and good luck!

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .