The Unanticipated Side Effects of Strokes

70 year-old British playwright Alan Ayckbourn–whose “The Norman Conquests” is currently on Broadway–had a stroke a few years back, at which point he started confusing the words “yes” and “no.”

He told Sarah Lyall in yesterday’s Times, “‘A very nice doctor came in and said, ‘Are you aware that when you say yes, you’re saying no?'”

Ayckbourn:    No.

Doctor:    I don’t think this conversation can continue.