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A double negative is a construction occurring when two forms of grammatical negation are used in the same sentence. This is typically used to convey a different shade of meaning from a strictly positive sentence ("You're not unattractive" vs "You're attractive").
But the term "double negative" can sometimes refer to the standard English constructions called litotes or nested negatives, e.g., using "He is not unhealthy" to mean "He is healthy". In some cases, nested negation is used to convey nuance, uncertainty, or the possibility of a third option other than a statement or its negation. For example, an ...
In propositional logic, the double negation of a statement states that "it is not the case that the statement is not true". In classical logic, every statement is logically equivalent to its double negation, but this is not true in intuitionistic logic; this can be expressed by the formula A ≡ ~(~A) where the sign ≡ expresses logical equivalence and the sign ~ expresses negation.
Double negatives as negative concord – e.g., "We don't need no education" [15] Certain double modals – e.g., "You might could do it" – not considered standard, but used for example in Southern American English [16] Double copula [17] – e.g., "What has to happen is, is that the money has to come from somewhere" [18] Preposition stranding ...
In rhetoric, litotes (/ l aɪ ˈ t oʊ t iː z, ˈ l aɪ t ə t iː z /, US: / ˈ l ɪ t ə t iː z /), [1] also known classically as antenantiosis or moderatour, is a figure of speech and form of irony in which understatement is used to emphasize a point by stating a negative to further affirm a positive, often incorporating double negatives for effect.
Debbie, Joseph and her two other children, Tyler and Nicole, were close, close in the way families can get when times are hard. She was a single mom and they were scraping by. Their apartment in a moderate-income housing development in Riverside, Conn., had little furniture. At one point they had to sleep on the floor. They did without.
The actual set of contexts that license particular polarity items is not as easily defined as a simple distinction between affirmative and negative sentences. Baker [2] noted that double negation may provide an acceptable context for positive polarity items: I can't believe you don't fancy her somewhat. John doesn't have any potatoes
Timeshare company Marriott Vacations Worldwide, which split from Marriott International in 2011, plans to save $50 to $100 million annually over the next two years, in part through automation efforts.