Re: non-chipped

Burt wrote:
"George E. Cawthon" <GeorgeC-Boise@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:GGvBg.221939$mF2.113470@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Burt wrote:
"Arthur Entlich" <e-printerhelp@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:iDkBg.322557$iF6.19220@xxxxxxxxxxx
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.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT: Im a Southerner now!
    ... Ax, a common nonstandard variant of ask, is often ... identified as an especially salient feature of African American ... Vernacular English. ...
    (rec.food.cooking)
  • Re: After 2000 years, they blinked
    ... Yes, but there are plenty of Catholics all over the world, who speak ... English all day long or who know it. ... cultures that had more in common with modern Arabs than with Western ... current languages, because it has a lot more words. ...
    (soc.culture.jewish.moderated)
  • Re: Comma before and after "which"?
    ... >>> that your usage, although fairly common, is not traditional. ... is The Queen's Proper English, but is stuffy, snobbish, bordering on insulting ... Do your ears actually belong to the United Kingdom? ... Prev by Date: Re: LINDA WEST of CHIPMAN UNITED VAN LINES http://www.e-thepeople.org/poll/29878/view?s_a=res puts peoples names on moving contracts without THEIR Knowledge ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: (OT) Spanish Speakers ?
    ... You think the above list are common in English? ... Kosher, which is clearly a jewish word for a jewish concept, and ... been to school with many Yiddish speakers. ...
    (uk.rec.motorcycles)
  • Re: on the very day....
    ... "Very" is here used to add emphasis. ... common in English, e.g. ... Creed) is " very God of very God." ...
    (alt.usage.english)