How many ways are there to say "No" without offending anyone's feeling? Well, there are "No, I can't", "No, I don't have time" and "No, I don't want to". But the problem is that many of us try to avoid situations that require us to say "No" to people. In almost every culture this little word is associated with rejection, failure, egoism and a lack of tact and empathy (感同身受) towards others.I cannot recall how many times I have eaten burnt, undercooked, bland (淡而无味的) and poorly tasting dishes simply because I did not want to hurt the feelings of the person who had cooked them. Or the times when I bought something I did not need, because I felt guilty leaving a shop empty-handed after spending 20 minutes of the shop assistant's time.Whether it is our manager, a customer service representative or an acquaintance asking for a favor, for some unexplainable reason many of us feel mental resistance when we have to voice a straight-forward "No".If you are a rare exception, who has no problem saying "I wish I could, but I do not want to" please share your secret! What is running through your head when an 8-year old with huge blue eyes offers you to buy a box of Girl Scouts cookies? Or when your boss asks you in a matter-of-fact voice if you can stay after hours to finish a project?How do you say "No" without offending anyone or feeling guilty afterwards?On the other hand, how do you NOT say "No" when you know that if you go along with everything other people want from you, you would be physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted?I believe the answer to this question lies in the wisdom of the Eastern world. You see, many oriental cultures, Chinese being one of them, do not even have a "N"- word. Instead, they use thousands of ways to express their disagreement and none of them involves saying a straight-forward "No".There is a great lesson to be learned from such approach to communication.If just like me, you sometimes find it difficult to be direct about saying "No", you can still be assertive and express your disagreement in a more subtle, yet equally powerful way. The great thing about this method is that it gets your point across without making you look bad, unprofessional, insensitive or uncaring. What does saying "No" mean in most cultures according to the passage?