ucbesvax.turner@ucbcad.UUCP (08/08/83)
#R:utastro:-48900:ucbesvax:6900003:000:1104 ucbesvax!turner Aug 7 07:04:00 1983 "This criticism was not undeserved" That's OK: it's standard use of the double-negative as ironic under- statement. Sure, one can simply say "this criticism was deserved," except that *that* phrase cries out for a "but...." Not so with this double-negative: it is slightly equivocal in suggesting that criticism was deserved--it says "it's deserved, but let's not get into that." On the other hand, "...it is not unlikely that this criticism was not undeserved." is stupid: it attempts to assign a probability ("not unlikely") to a statement that it wants, at the same time, to leave undisturbed by any further qualification: "not undeserved." It is not the number of negatives being employed that is the main problem, although that is certainly *one* of the problems with it. It is, rather, that it doubly- negates any clear intent in the process. The first says: "I am being ambiguous; bear with me." The second says, "I gotta get this 500-word review hacked out before the deadline." The first is wry politeness, the second is sly rudeness. Michael Turner ucbvax!ucbesvax.turner