double negation
Two negatives combine
Double negation is using two negative elements in the same statement.
In standard English, double negatives typically cancel out: I am not unhappy means somewhat happy.
In many dialects and informal speech, double negatives intensify rather than cancel: I don't know nothing means I know nothing at all.
This intensifying use, though common worldwide, is stigmatized in formal contexts.
- not uncommonOccurring fairly often
- logicScience of valid reasoning
- logical proofValid argument establishing truth
- denialRefusal to accept reality
- two wrongsTwo separate transgressions
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