double negative

double negative

English

Examples
"Jimmy, you look awfully guilty, have you been naughty again?" "Me sir, no sir, I haven't done nothing wrong, I swear." The n't and the nothing together create a double negative. Never let nobody talk you into shaking another man's jolt. Nelson Algren, A Walk on the Wild Side He nevere yet no vilaynie ne sayde. Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales The highlighted terms create a triple negative.

Noun

double negative (plural double negatives)

1. (rhetoric, usually derogatory) A phrase including two negative words (no, not, never, etc.) especially when used as intensifiers in informal English.
   • 2006 Feb. 17, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 1, Episode 4:

     Nuh-nuh-doin'-duh... Nuh-nuh-doin'-duh... We don't need no education...
     Yes, you do. You've just used a double negative.

Translations

phrase in which there are two negative words

Czech: dvojitý zápor m German: doppelte Verneinung (de) Hungarian: kettős tagadás Icelandic: tvöföld neitun f Portuguese: duplo negativo m, negativo duplo m

See also

• litotes
• negative concord
• contranym