RE: Why a double negative makes a positive. (Mathematics)
January 1, 2010 at 5:30 pm
(This post was last modified: January 1, 2010 at 5:32 pm by Pope Alfred.)
It works in mathematics, but in languages it is a silly old fallacy that a double negative adds up to an affirmative. My mother used to moan on about "It ain't no good" must logically mean "It is good".
That was true for Latin, and in those days English usage was forced by pedants into the mould of Latin.
In fact, in - for example - Middle English and Middle German, multiple negatives were stylish: Chaucer's He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde contains three negators. The effect was to intensify the negative, not to cancel it out. The way negatives are expressed in correct modern French comes from precisely this; arguably 'je ne vais pas' is still a double negative today.
So... "It ain't no good" is perfectly OK in some common registers of English. It can be condemned for not conforming to the standard (if you like), but not for being illogical.
That was true for Latin, and in those days English usage was forced by pedants into the mould of Latin.
In fact, in - for example - Middle English and Middle German, multiple negatives were stylish: Chaucer's He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde contains three negators. The effect was to intensify the negative, not to cancel it out. The way negatives are expressed in correct modern French comes from precisely this; arguably 'je ne vais pas' is still a double negative today.
So... "It ain't no good" is perfectly OK in some common registers of English. It can be condemned for not conforming to the standard (if you like), but not for being illogical.
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