Double negative
A double negative occurs when two forms of negation are used in the same sentence. In some languages (or varieties of a language) negative forms are consistently used throughout the sentence to express a single negation, while in others a double negative is used to negate a negation and therefore resolves to a positive. In the former case, triple and quadruple negation can also be seen, which leads to the terms multiple negation or negative concord.
In literature, denying a negation is known as the trope of litotes.
[edit] English
The double-negatives-make-a-positive rule was first introduced in English when Bishop Robert Lowth wrote A Short Introduction to English Grammar with Critical Notes in 1762.[1]
[edit] Double negative resolving to a negative
In today's standard English, double negatives are not used; for example the standard English equivalent of "I don't want nothing!" is "I don't want anything". It should, however, be noted that in standard English one cannot say "I don't want nothing!" to express the meaning "I want something!" unless there is very heavy stress on the "don't" or a specific plaintive stress on the "nothing".
(In one of these cases, it would be a grammatically correct way of emphasizing that the speaker would rather have something than nothing at all.)
..... In the film Mary Poppins, Dick Van Dyke uses a double negative when he says
If you don't want to go nowhere.
A double negative is also famously used in the first two lines of the song "Another Brick in the Wall (part II)" included in the album The Wall by Pink Floyd, sung by schoolchildren
We don't need no education.
We don't need no thought control.
Other examples of double negatives include:
I ain't got nobody.
or "Don't nobody go to the store. "
or "I can't hardly wait. "
or the Faithless song "Insomnia" "I can't get no sleep. "
or the "stinking badges" from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
"Badges? [pause] We ain't got no badges.[2] "
Double negative also refers to even more than two negatives, like:
And don't nobody buy nothing.
It is common amongst children whenever mischief has occurred for them to say,
I didn't do nothing[citation needed] or
I ain't done nuffin' or nuffin'
Today, the double negative is often considered the mark of an uneducated speaker, but it used to be quite common in English, even in literature. Chaucer made extensive use of double negatives in his poetry, sometimes even using triple negatives. For example, he described the Friar in The Canterbury Tales: "Ther nas no man no wher so vertuous" (i.e. "there wasn't no man nowhere so virtuous"), and he even used a fourfold negative when describing the Knight: "He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde / In all his lyf unto no maner wight." In more recent times, more publicised examples of double negatives appear in Eastenders, particularly with the character Dot Branning, who sometimes uses triple negatives as well (e.g. 'I ain't never 'eard of no licence). However, this is an obvious example of Estuary English or Mockney, as June Brown (who plays her) speaks with a much more posh accent.
[edit] Double negative resolving to a positive
Main article: Litotes
Example: "There isn't a day when I don't think about her." -- Prince William, speaking of his mother.
Litotes is a rhetorical device which uses double negation to emphasise a statement. By denying its opposite, the double negation cancels itself out and resolves to a positive. The effect of this can differ depending on context.
For instance, "I don't disagree" could be said to mean "I certainly agree" if stated in an affirmative manner. However, if stated in a cautious manner, "I don't disagree" can also be used to mean "you may be right, although I am not sure" or "there is no mistake in what you say, but there is more to it than that."
Similarly, the phrase "Mr. Jones was not incompetent" may be used to mean either "Mr. Jones was very competent" or "Mr. Jones was competent, but not brilliantly so."
This device can also be used to humorous effect; for example, in the TV show The Simpsons, Homer Simpson says in one episode ("Missionary: Impossible"), "I'm not not licking toads", humorously conveying to the audience that he had indeed been licking toads.
[edit] Triple and quadruple negatives
Bert Williams' early twentieth century hit song Nobody (rerecorded by Johnny Cash) contains the notable chorus:
Well, I ain't never done nothing to nobody.
I ain't never got nothing from nobody, no time.
And, until I get something from somebody sometime,
I don't intend to do nothing for nobody, no time.[3]
The song "Stay Free" by The Clash contains the lyric:
Never took no **** from no one, we weren't fools.
This is an example of triple and quadruple negatives, used for emphasis.
Another example from the song "A Horse with No Name" by America (band):
There ain't no one for to give you no pain.
A further example:
I am not never going to do nowt no more for thee.
Negatives are often found in legislation, perhaps to make it sound official:
"Regulations setting out rules in respect of the sale of goods but illogically not in respect of the supply of services in similar situations."