Re: non-chipped


"George E. Cawthon" <GeorgeC-Boise@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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Burt wrote:
"George E. Cawthon" <GeorgeC-Boise@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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Burt wrote:
"Arthur Entlich" <e-printerhelp@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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So, reading the earlier posting:

"What does NOT non-chipped mean?"

if non-chipped means without a chip, then NOT non-chipped, means NOT
without a chip, or, WITH a chip...

Art
OOPs - I didn't see the earlier posting - only the one that you
responded to with the original message removed.

The exception would be with some languages other than English where
double negatives are correct language construction (i.e.German) and the
double negative does not equal a positive. Ich habe nicht kein gelt.
Literal translation is "I have not no money" but it translates to "I
have no money" in English.

Also, using an American idiomatic phrase that is somewhat peculiar on
the face of it - when approaching a clerk at a store to see if they
have an item in stock it goes something like this: "you don't happen
to have the item I wish to purchase, do you?" In the US (and probably
Canada as well) the clerk would answer "no" indicating that they don't
have the item or "yes", indicating that they do have it in stock. In
Japan if you asked a clerk, whose first language is Japanese but speaks
English, that question he would respond "yes" meaning "yes I DON'T have
the item - a literal and correct response to a negative question.


Double negative for emphasis are common in English also. We are just a
few hundred years late, unless one is uneducated and then anything goes.

George - are you making reference to the "I ain't got no..." sort of
phrase? As you suggesst, uneducated at best. I'm not sure what double
negative you are thinking about that is in common use for emphasis. The
German example I mentioned is correct grammer and not idiomatic or
regional German. The Japanese/English example displays the Japanese
respondant's understanding of English grammer that is gramatically
correct, although the questioner expects the opposite answer which
violates the rule about double negatives.

The comment I made (twisted for emphasis) is that double negatives were
common and commonly accepted in English but that was at least 300 years
ago. Not common now, that is why I said we are late. Not limited to the
"ain't got no" phrase you gave. Note also that "ain't" was at one time the
preferred polite form.

I take exception to your conclusion on the Japanese/American example.
The, "you don't -----, do you?" question is certainly commonly heard in
American English. Americans are often confused about how to answer the
question. The proof is that a stranger asks this type of question of a
group of 5-6 people, one person answers, the stranger walks away, and then
a debate begins in the group about whether the answering person gave the
correct answer even though everyone in the group is aware of the facts.
The only correct response is "What do you mean?" because there is no
correct answer since the questions asks a negative and a positive at the
same time.
I have been in literally hundreds of debates on whether the answer to such
a question should have been yes or no.

George - I'm talking about native Japanese in Japan who have learned
English as a second language in their country and take, quite literally, the
no-no on double negatives. Thus the "yes" answer to "you don't have any
widgets, do you?" meaning yes we don't have any. No reference to
Japanese-Americans whose first language is English and who understand the
idiomatic use of the negative question.


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