Lexic.us

Definition of Double negative

1. Noun. An affirmative constructed from two negatives. "A not unwelcome outcome"

2. Noun. A grammatically substandard but emphatic negative. "I don't never go"

Definition of Double negative

1. Noun. (pejorative rhetoric) A phrase in which there are two negative words or their compounds (e.g. no, not, never, none, etc), occasionally leading to ambiguity in the meaning, but necessary in some foreign languages. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Double Negative

double knit double layer double leg circle double life double lock standing seam double loop hernia double magnum double magnums double meaning double membrane

double minute double minute chromosomes double modal double modals double negative double negatives double obeli double obelisk double obelus double open jaw

double or nothing double or quits double outlet right ventricle double over double pedicle flap double penetration double planet double planets double play

Literary usage of Double negative

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage by Inc. Merriam-Webster (1994)
"Might could (which see) seems to be a still flourishing speech form in the Southern US There are other combinations at OUGHT. double negative Otto Jespersen ..."

2. English Usage: Studies in the History and Uses of English Words and Phrases by John Lesslie Hall (1917)
"Why should the double negative be treated in this volume ? ... By no means; but he will show that the double negative lived on in very considerable vigor ..."

3. Syntax of the Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb by William Watson Goodwin (1890)
"The subjunctive and the future indicative are used with the double negative ... double negative ..."

4. The American Language: An Inquiry Into the Development of English in the by Henry Louis Mencken (1921)
"The double negative Syntactically, perhaps the chief characteristic of vulgar American is its sturdy fidelity to the double negative. So freely is it used, ..."

5. Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage, and Style Into Writer's Workshop by Jeff Anderson (2005)
"Then, you've used a double negative, but that double negative serves to soften the ... Personally, I'd never tell my students that the double negative is ..."

6. Syntax of the Moods and Tenses in the New Testament Greek by Ernest De Witt Burton (1892)
"When two simple negatives not constituting a double negative, or a compound negative followed by a simple negative, occur in the same clause, ..."

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