Newsletter and Grammar Coach

Any kid who has played with a pair of magnets has learned that two ends with negative polarity repel each other. That’s analogous to formal English sentence structure. Double negatives are used within the same sentence in some languages, but typically don’t play well together in standard English, and can create confusion.

Throughout elementary and secondary school, students are told to avoid double negatives in sentences, such as “I didn’t do no chores yesterday.” They learn that “didn’t” (a contraction for “did not”) and “no” constitute a double negative, which in combination counteract each other. The intended meaning is “I did no chores yesterday,” but “didn’t” negates that, changing the literal meaning to “I did some chores yesterday” — in other words, “my plan was to avoid doing chores, but instead, I did the opposite: I did chores.”

Similarly, “Carl and Gil don’t see nothing wrong with that lawnmower” contains two conflicting negative words: “don’t” and “nothing.” Perhaps Fred determined that the lawnmower is in good working order — he found “nothing wrong with that lawnmower.” The example sentence says, however, that Carl and Gil disagree — they don’t have the same conclusion that “nothing is wrong” with it. They don’t see “nothing” wrong because they found something wrong — at least, that’s what the sentence literally says. Likewise, “we haven’t never been there before” does a double about-face; both “haven’t” (have not) and “never” are negative. That should be “we haven’t ever been there before.”

Some negative words are less apparent than “no,” “not,” “nothing” and “nowhere,” however, misguiding well-meaning people who intend to avoid double-negatives but overlook subtleties that create problems. Some adverbs, conjunctions and pronouns that have negative connotations can conflict with a negative word in a sentence. The adverb “barely” is one such camouflaged negative word. Others include “rarely,” “hardly,” “seldom” and “scarcely.”

The statement that “Carlotta can’t barely stay awake any longer” is in double negative form. The adverb “barely” by itself indicates that Carlotta may not be able to remain awake. The proper way to express that thought in a sentence is “Carlotta can barely stay awake any longer.” Flipping “can” to “can’t” negates that meaning. Even the adverb “only” can carry a negative connotation, as in “he calls me only when he needs a favor” — in other words, “he does not call me unless he needs a favor.”

Consider safety standards department employee Rick, who proudly announced, “Thanks to our new protocols, the company had scarcely no industrial accidents during the first six months of the year.” That’s a matter of bad grammar concealing good news. “Scarcely” is an adverb that means “almost no” or “almost none.” Rick meant to declare that the company experienced very few mishaps, but instead he reported that he had scarcely any (very little) encouraging news about the company’s attempts to attain a good accident record. He should have said, “Thanks to our new protocols, the company had scarcely any industrial accidents during the first six months of the year.” In this context, the adverb “any” means “at all” — and used in combination, “scarcely any” translates to “few.”

Use of paired negatives is often done intentionally, to create a type of understatement that has a grammatical name: litotes (which is pronounced either LY-tuh-teez or ly-TOE-deez). Webster’s New World College Dictionary defines litotes as “understatement for effect, especially such understatement in which something is expressed by a negation or denial of the contrary.” The phrasing “not uncommon” is such an example, as in a report that stated, “Mechanics liens are not uncommon in large construction projects.” That phrasing is based on the idea that something that is “not uncommon” is not necessarily equivalent to something that is common. “Not uncommon” places the incidence somewhere between common and uncommon. Describing a meal as “not bad” does not go as far as declaring it delicious, but at least acknowledges that it was pretty good, or better than expected. The statement hesitantly negates the negative word “bad.” A job applicant who tells an interviewer “you won’t regret hiring me” is intentionally (or unconsciously) making a litotic statement.

Sometimes litotes are used to camouflage meaning, to equivocate. When Carlotta told Adam, “well, you’re not wrong,” her noncommittal choice of words suggests that she doubts that he’s completely right.

In some contexts, litotes can convey sarcasm, ridicule or even contempt. Sandra’s statement to Ted that “I am not unaware of the potential consequences” suggests that she was somewhat insulted by Ted’s failure to recognize that she had indeed considered the likely results of a decision. A judge may scold a spiteful defendant with a litotic warning, “this is no minor offense.”

Singer Tom Jones’ 1965 hit recording “It’s Not Unusual” made effective use of litotes, while the Rolling Stones song “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” and the Bee Gees recording “I Can’t See Nobody” were spectacles of poor grammar — albeit for deliberate lyrical effect. The Brooks and Dunn country music song “Ain't Nothing ’Bout You” contains these corkscrew multiple-negating lyrics: “There ain’t nothing ’bout you that don’t do something for me." We think they like the girl, but we're unsure.

In your writing, remain aware of double negatives. They can be used deliberately with great effect, as Mark Twain did in Following the Equator with this sentence: “She was not quite what you would call unrefined.” But when the kids of the chorus in Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” sing “We don’t need no education,” the irony is that they could benefit from it.

Retired University of California, Davis, music professor and symphony conductor D. Kern Holoman has published the collected writings of his grandmother, Kate Herring Highsmith, with the help of EditPros LLC’s Book Prep service. The book, titled Kate M. Herring — Mrs. J. Henry Highsmith: Collected Writings, edited by Holoman, encompasses some 250 of her newspaper articles and other essays.

Holoman said that Kate Herring Highsmith (1880–1966), a journalist and club woman, was an indefatigable Raleigh activist who wrote prolifically on behalf of the health and welfare of the people of North Carolina. Writing principally for the state Health Bulletin and Sunday newspapers, she covered subjects from tuberculosis to marijuana, incarceration to maternity and infant care, libraries to art museums.

The chronology that introduces each of the book’s chapters, based largely on items in the “society” pages, is necessarily selective. The book includes narratives about the proceedings of many, but not all of the Tuesday meetings of the Twentieth-Century Book Club, for instance. Selected essays about the topics of concern to the Woman’s Club of Raleigh during years past offer penetrating glimpses of everyday life during the decades in which she flourished.

Mrs. Highsmith was said to have attended every single Duke University commencement after her own graduation from Trinity in 1906. She organized the Wake County Duke Alumnae Association, which often met at her home. The book also makes note of social events and vacations, for their insights into her rich social life and into her devotion, amid her busy schedule, to her sisters and her children.

The paperback edition of the 6.7-by- 9.6-inch book, published in November 2020 under Holoman’s au Vieux Logis imprint, consists of 644 pages and includes several black-and-white photos. Kate M. Herring — Mrs. J. Henry Highsmith: Collected Writings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other sellers. The text also is available in e-book format for sale through Amazon (Kindle), Apple (iBooks), Barnes & Noble (Nook), and Kobo.

This is the 26th book that Book Prep has produced for authors during the past four years. As part of the Book Prep package, EditPros professionally formatted the interior pages of Holoman’s book, designed the cover, and readied it for print publication.

With Book Prep, authors retain all rights to their books, and collect 100 percent of sales royalties.

LEARN MORE about the EditPros Book Prep service.

Tom D. wrote:

The grammar coach replies:

* * * * *

Are you perplexed by some aspect of grammar or word usage? Don't be shy! Ask the "grammar coach" at EditPros and we'll try to help — at no charge, just for the sport of it.

Do you know of a friend or colleague whose office can benefit from EditPros’ services? If you do, you may be able to earn a “referral reward” of up to $500 from EditPros.   

We invite you to submit your questions to the "grammar coach," and we welcome you to subscribe to this monthly newsletter — which we'll send to your e-mail address at no charge. We respond to all "grammar coach" questions personally, but delays may occur because we must place top priority on assignments from our clients. We appreciate your patience and your interest.

You also can change your e-mail subscription address. For an address change, please indicate your existing AND your new e-mail address. Thank you.

OUR PRIVACY POLICY for e-mail newsletter subscribers:

We do not use any commercial e-mail lists or automated mass-mailing programs, and we do not allow access to the list by anyone else for any reason. Our subscriber list is maintained by hand, and it is not for sale. We are protective of confidentiality because many of our readers are also clients of ours.