Friday, June 28, 2013

Your Grammar Nazi

No disrespect to the Rude Pundit, because I've seen this several places recently, but I think this says the opposite of what he meant to say:

Really, is there anyone who didn't think that TV chef and restauranteur Paula Deen didn't say "nigger" at some point in her life?
The double negative means the two "didn't"s cancel each other out so the questions asks if anyone thought she DID say it.

If you want to ask if anyone thought she did NOT say it, you'd phrase it this way:

"Really, is there anyone who thought that TV chef and restauranteur Paula Deen didn't say "nigger" at some point in here life."

In other words, no one thinks she did not say it; everyone thinks she did.

Count your "not"s; if it's an even number, they cancel each other out.


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