Double negatives

[Rollo Tamasi]

Double negatives in the english language are always suppose to bring about a positive except in some english dialects.

Does anyone know of any exceptions?

I suppose I have one;

"I can't do what I can't do".

I think this double negative keeps it negative.
Am I right?

 

[TOG]

I ain't go no satisfaction

The TOG
​

 

[Claudya]

"We don't need no education. We don't need no thought control."

Another example of negation (or actually lack thereof) in English language that puzzles me is:
"I could care less." when you are saying that you don't care at all. Because if you don't care at all, than you could NOT care less, so what you say is actually the opposite of what the phrase means.

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

"We don't need no education. We don't need no thought control."

Another example of negation (or actually lack thereof) in English language that puzzles me is:
"I could care less." when you are saying that you don't care at all. Because if you don't care at all, than you could NOT care less, so what you say is actually the opposite of what the phrase means.

Words that describe what you are saying are oxymoron, irony, and speech dyslexia.
It may also be a metaphor.

 

[TOG]

Sometimes a double negative actually makes sense (kinda). For example...

"You can't not forgive your mother."
- Beaver Cleaver

Beaver said that to his mother in an episode of Leave it to Beaver I watched last night (I have the whole series on DVD), after she asked him to forgive her.

The TOG
​

 

[TOG]

"We don't need no education. We don't need no thought control."

Another example of negation (or actually lack thereof) in English language that puzzles me is:
"I could care less." when you are saying that you don't care at all. Because if you don't care at all, than you could NOT care less, so what you say is actually the opposite of what the phrase means.

Words that describe what you are saying are oxymoron, irony, and speech dyslexia.
It may also be a metaphor.

I think it's speech dyxlesis... dysxlias... That last one. People mean "I couldn't care less" when they say "I could care less." A similar thing applies to the use of the word "irregardless", which is itself a double negative ("ir" and "less"). It's usually enough to say "regardless".

The TOG
​

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

Sometimes a double positive equals a negative.

"The patient in room 301 is down getting an x-ray".

The patient is not in room 301, he/she is down getting an x-ray.

Thus, it's negative=oxymoron.

 

[Sparkey]

"I don't know nothing."
"I haven't done nothing."

I saw this image on a site where comments and proposed captions are invited. One of the posters noticed the discrepancy and made the observation:

The sign is lying. Everybody lies during an election year.

Another poster noticed the comment and replied, "Does that mean you're lying too and that not everybody lies in an election year?" Which opened things up to further observation and attempts at humor until one person posted: "But if she's lying that everyone lies, doesn't that mean that she's telling the truth that everyone lies? And if that's the case, is she really lying, then? Ohhh the paradox!"

Then comes:

Actually, it's not a paradox: it's simply a false statement.

The opposite of "everybody lies" is not "nobody lies."

The opposite of "everybody lies" is "not everybody lies," which means "some people do not lie."

If one person does not lie, everybody else can, but the statement that everybody does is still false. It's like saying that the statement, "All 5 of my marbles are red," must be false if all 5 of the marbles are not red, but the statement can be false if 1 marble is blue and the other 4 are red. So, no, it's simply a contradictory statement (one that has to be false) and not a paradox.

We at CF.Net ain't the only ones.