Those pesky negatives (revisited)

[Dennis R. Preston]

Wilson,

We got different notions of 'right.' That's OK, but it's also the
case that I was not be idiomatic in my "translation." I also very
infrequently use to+not+v, but I am not so unfond of it as you appear
to be.

dInIs

>On Aug 10, 2004, at 12:34 PM, Dennis R. Preston wrote:
>
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       "Dennis R. Preston" <preston at MSU.EDU>
>>Subject:      Re: Those pesky negatives (revisited)
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>--------
>>
>>>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.
>
>Almost. They've NOT ever NOT continued NOT to live up to our
>expectations.
>
>_That_ is right.
>
>But, seriously, folks, I've been completely blind-sided by what seems
>to me to be the out-of-nowhere emergence of the "splitting of an
>infinitive" by inserting "not" that has now become common. I've racked
>my brain and I can't recall that I was ever taught a prescriptive rule
>against this. (FWIW, I've read only one prescriptive grammar in my life
>and the only thing that I remember about it is that it was a green
>hardcover, was written by a Jesuit, and was published by Loyola
>University Press, Chicago.) There was no need for a rule against it
>because NOBODY EVER DID IT! For all practical purposes, I never lived
>anywhere but Saint Louis for the first quarter-century of my life.
>Perhaps the non-occurrence of "to not VERB" was just a local phenomenon
>or something. Oh, well.
>
>-Wilson Gray
>
>>
>>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


--
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