Those pesky negatives (revisited)

[Dennis R. Preston]

>larry,


I have the sneaking suspicion that some not familiar with the sense
of "negative" you use here may have trouble finding three; I offer
the following translation:

They've NOT ever NOT continued to NOT live up to our expectations.

Is that right?

dInIs



>3 negatives = 1 positive?
>
>larry
>=================
>
>The New York Times
>August 10, 2004, D3
>HEADLINE: Showalter Builds Another Team Into a Contender
>by JACK CURRY
>
>  Buck Showalter is doing it again. He is breathing and he is building
>a contending baseball team, so he has his priorities covered. He can
>keep them covered by constructing and cajoling the Texas Rangers, and
>trying to go to a World Series, someplace he has never been.
>
>  The Rangers are already in a rarefied place, where they were not
>supposed to be: they are challenging for first place in the American
>League West and for the wild card. After the Rangers unloaded Alex
>Rodriguez to the Yankees for Alfonso Soriano in an embarrassing
>salary dump, they were expected to crawl to a fourth straight
>last-place finish. No A-Rod? No way.
>
>  But the Rangers have performed like a revived team, a team that
>Showalter said was looser, a team that is not centered on one special
>player. Rodriguez has left. But Showalter, whom Rodriguez has called
>a former manager but not a friend, has not. There are no power
>struggles this season. Showalter's all-consuming style has the
>Rangers winning and dreaming.
>
>  ''We have a thing with the coaching staff where we say, 'Let's go
>out and see what the boys have in store for us tonight,''' said the
>48-year-old Showalter, who is in his second season with the team.
>''They've never ceased to let us down.''


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic,
        Asian and African Languages
Wells Hall A-740
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1027 USA
Office: (517) 353-0740
Fax: (517) 432-2736