double negative

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  • noun

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an affirmative constructed from two negatives

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a grammatically substandard but emphatic negative

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References in periodicals archive ?
Strings of negatives, litotes, double negatives, and antitheses in the Liberata are catalogued and interpreted in light of the Counter-Reformation's emphasis on prescription, censorship, and "the drive towards narrative closure" (109).
As a classicist Chandler knew exactly how language worked and was able to pepper his work with split infinitives and double negatives for dramatic or comic effect.
Double negatives aside, maybe silence really is golden when it comes to going on record about emerging issues.
In note taking, at least three types of transformations are common: full forms of negative verbs are contracted, participials are converted to present or past tense forms, and deliberate, grammatical double negatives are changed to their underlying positive forms.
The new spots - presumably aimed at replacing double negatives with positives, however lukewarm - will attempt to focus viewers' attention on plastics used in products like football helmets and artificial hips.
The use of double negatives, common in English language tests, may not be well understood in Spanish.
Double negatives are among the worst of grammatical crimes.
Efficiency rules include using simple words and expressions, omitting superfluous words, using the active voice and avoiding double negatives, while effectiveness rules include beginning by stating the object of the exercise and avoiding using a demonstrative pronoun as a noun.
Double negatives, ranked third, also raise questions about linguistic shifts among English speakers.
The figure of litotes, of denying the contrary, is not unpretentious in English, and double negatives like the one I just used are not allowed.
After what it did to Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband, and the double negatives of Ben Elton in Gasping, the problem this time is our old friend more importantly (adverb), which crops up at least twice when we need more important (adjective)to describe wha t follows it.
Also, the use of double negatives which denote the opposite of what a person actually means.
The Open is sport's equivalent of the Grand National but the R&A, in a show of puritanism that would gladden the heart of our Prime Minister, say that betting, just like double negatives, is a complete no-no.
Now correct me if I'm wrong but surely that's a double negative - and I've always been told double negatives are a complete no-no.
You'll find the answer is a double negative, and normally double negatives are a complete no-no.