Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site mit-eddie.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!rh
From: rh@mit-eddie.UUCP (Randy Haskins)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Re: Re: Double negatives, and Russian
Message-ID: <573@mit-eddie.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 10-Aug-83 13:51:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: mit-eddie.573
Posted: Wed Aug 10 13:51:39 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 11-Aug-83 02:06:34 EDT
References: <435@sbcs.UUCP>
Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 24

>          In fact, double negation does have its place,
>          because English does not follow simple binary
>          logic: thus, "not bad" is not *strictly*
>          equivalent to "good" (if it were, the speaker
>          would have *said* "good"), but means something
>          like "neither bad nor good, but so-so". The double
>          negation can be used to convey more information in
>          this way.
>          
>          Saumya Debray
>          SUNY at Stony Brook
>          

Yes, but for some reason, Bill Strunk says not to do this.
(In EoS).  I don't know, I think it allows more degrees of meaning
and makes the language more colorful.  Also, it allows sarcasm
to be heaped on in large dosages.

-- 
	Randwulf (Randy Haskins)
	genrad!mit-eddie!rh
 or...
  rh@mit-ee (via mit-mc)