English multiple negation

[Molly]

Is multiple negation, in English, often appropriate to the situations in which it occurs?

[MrPedantic]

No, no, no, no, no!

A thousand times no!

MrP

[Lost_Soul]

[Torsten]

I've heard native speaker say things like "it doesn't mean nothing" so it seems that double negation is quite common in colloquial spoken English.

TOEIC listening, photographs: At a truck factory

[Prezbucky]

1000 no's multiplied by themselves would make a yes:

-1 to the 1000th is 1. lol
_________________
Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Molly]

[Prezbucky]

you guys will hear things like "it doesn't mean nothing" all the time down here

or, worse, "it don't mean nothing".
_________________
Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Lost_Soul]

How about: I ain now nuttin'
Or: I ain own nobody nuttin'

[Prezbucky]

in both of those just replace "ain't" with "don't" -- some down here might say "I don't know nothin'" or "I don't owe nobody nothin'".

"ain't" generally takes the place of "haven't", "hasn't", "aren't", "isn't", etc.:

- I ain't going to the show tonight.

- He ain't done his homework yet.

- They ain't eaten their beans yet.

- They ain't going to the game.
_________________
Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Molly]

[Lost_Soul]

[Yankee]

Hi Alex

I might "rectify" things by relocating the word even:
Not only did they not come, they didn't even bother to call and tell us they weren't coming. :D

By the way, I'd say you'd be far more likely to hear "He don't know nothing" than "He doesn't know nothing". :lol:
.
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"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[MrPedantic]

1. He is not unusual.
2. He doesn't know nothing = he knows something (emphatic denial that he knows nothing)
3. He doesn't know nothing = he doesn't know anything.

The double negation in #1 and #2 is standard English; though some people dislike the form of #1.

Double negation of the #3 kind is a shibboleth, for many speakers: if you were investing a large sum of money in someone's business, it would be looked upon kindly; but in e.g. an interview, it might have a (doubly) negative effect.

MrP

[Prezbucky]

Alex -- sorry I didn't answer sooner

Amy made the necessary correction. (as usual)

Though it ain't quite perfect, I'm impressed with your sentence.

T
_________________
Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Prezbucky]

...and i didn't go quite far enough in one of the above posts when I gave this as an example:

"They ain't eaten their beans yet."

To some down here, it would be even worse:

"They ain't ate their beans yet."
_________________
Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.