Writing Lessons & Advice: Double-Negatives

This lesson will be running shortly before my second wedding anniversary!

In honor of another wonderful milestone, I’m again drawing inspiration directly from the love of my life, more particularly a language habit of mine that’s become a pet peeve of his: double-negatives. While English classes were not his favorite subject, one thing he retained from them was a rule discouraging their use. I’ve decided to refresh my own memory on the issue and here’s what I found.

A double-negative is a statement containing two negative words. They intend to convey the opposite meaning and often happen with contractions. For instance, a simple double-negative sentence/phrase might be: It won't do you no harm. The phrase really means that the thing in question should not inflict damage or damage is not intended.

A double-negative I’ve used a lot is “can’t not”, like I can’t not post adorable pictures of my cat, Sparky! In saying that, I mean I typically cannot resist posting sweet or funny pictures of Sparky to social media. Another one I like is “not wrong”, as in I was not wrong to suggest turning left at the intersection. Meaning my husband took longer to get us home that night.

But what’s the deal with double-negatives? Where do they come from? Why are they frowned upon? Double-negatives have some associations with regional and ethnic dialects, like the southern U.S., parts of Britain, or African American vernacular. They were even used through a large part of the middle ages, as excerpts from Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” show:

"Ther nas no man no wher so vertuous" ("There never was no man nowhere so virtuous"). -describing the Friar

"He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde / In all his lyf unto no maner wight" ("He never yet no vileness didn't say / In all his life to no manner of man") -describing the Knight

Modern pop culture gives plenty of recognizable examples in song titles and lyrics:

“We don’t need no education/we don’t need no thought control...” from Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall”

“I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” from The Rolling Stones

“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye

“Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone/It's not warm when she's away...” by Bill Withers

“Where you going? What you looking for?/You know those boys don’t want to play no more with you, it’s true…” from “Sister Christian” by Night Ranger

The flipside of the coin is that double-negatives are seen as non-standard English, which may be why they are disapproved in certain circles like my husband learned. Double-negatives convey a different shade of meaning, but that means they aren’t always clear or concise, which are important aspects in academic or professional communications. We may think little of them in casual conversation (or in artistic expression), but any of the above examples may seem a little confusing to read or understand when put on paper. So to make sure the meaning gets across, the sentences can be rewritten either to include only one negative or to express the meaning more directly. Here are corrected versions of the examples:

I love posting adorable pictures of my cat, Sparky!
I was right to suggest turning left at the intersection.
We don’t need any education or thought control...
I can’t get any satisfaction...
No mountain is high enough to keep me from getting to you.
There is no sunshine or warmth when she’s away.
You know those boys do not want to play with you anymore.

These new sentences do not beat around the bush in what they are trying to express. They either have only one negative or straightforwardly articulate their message. They’re simpler, but easier to understand and should satisfy the staunch English teachers or grammar Nazis. For my husband’s sake, I’m starting to catch my own “double-negative speak” so he better understands me the first time. (Successful communication is a big part of healthy relationships after all!)

Hope this gives you a better understanding on using (or not using) double-negatives! And again, because I can’t resist, here are some of the adorable pictures of Sparky!