[Ads-l] understate = 'overstate'

[Jonathan Lighter]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/5-superfoods-long-healthy-life-225332090.html

“The benefits cannot be understated, and it’s critical that Americans
increase their intake of fruits and veggies."

JL

On Fri, Oct 6, 2023 at 8:57 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:

> Not so much “understate” = ‘overstate’ but arguably a blend along the
> lines of “cannot understate” = 'should not understate' + 'cannot
> overstate’.  Language Log has many blog entries devoted to both
> “undernegation” and “overnegation” including the notorious “No head injury
> is too trivial to ignore”. Many of the problematic negatives involve modal
> “can(not)”, and this is part of that family.  (“Could care less” is an
> undernegative cousin.)
>
> LH
>
> > On Oct 6, 2023, at 3:42 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> wrote:
> >
> >
> https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-mueller-prosecutor-warns-trump-131802945.html
> >
> > "'Given the current schedule, we cannot understate the prejudice to
> > President Trump arising from his lack of access to these critical
> materials
> > months after they should have been produced," Trump attorneys Chris Kise
> > and Todd Blanche wrote in the filing."
> >
> >
> > JL
> >
> > --
> > "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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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