[Ads-l] Triple negative

[Tim Stewart]

What I thought: "Ironic" because the woman's last name is "Fudge," and to
"fudge" means to conceal the truth or impede understanding, and this woman
Fudge used a triple negative, which made it harder to understand her
statement?

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On Thu, Dec 1, 2016 at 5:42 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Why is that ironic?
>
> JL
>
> On Thu, Dec 1, 2016 at 3:53 PM, Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > The essential meaning seems clear (though the negative phrasing changes
> > the direction causation to a possible causation): I think that because
> Ryan
> > ran a strong campaign, this has happened.
> >
> > Perhaps the correct utterance is this:
> > If Ryan had not run a strong campaign, I don’t think that any of this
> > would have happened.
> >
> > If so, the “I do not think” could be a production error due to the
> > complexity of the grammar.
> >
> > Benjamin Barrett
> > Formerly of Seattle, WA
> >
> > > On 1 Dec 2016, at 12:38, Brian Hitchcock <brianhi at SKECHERS.COM> wrote:
> > >
> > > What do you make of this? It's from an article about Nancy Pelosi's
> > retention of her seat as House Minority Leader, and of concessions gained
> > by caucus members that lessen Pelosi's power to control DCCC
> appointments.
> > > http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/nancy-pelosi-house-
> > democrats-232023
> > >
> > > "I do not think if Tim Ryan had not run a strong campaign, I don't know
> > that any of this would've happened."
> > >
> > > Ironically, this was spoken by Representative Marcia Fudge.
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org