2336: Original Description of Double Negatives May 11, 2021

There is a common understanding of double negatives in Standard English resulting in a positive. This is not nearly as simple as the case in reality, but that's because the initial analysis of the phenomenon is often misunderstood. When Bishop Robert Lowth described this in 1762, he was discussing words to convey one's point of view, such as saying

"I don't disagree" to imply either:

• "I certainly agree"

• "I agree"

• "I sort of agree"

• "I don't understand your point of view" / "I have no opinion"

He called these 'weasel words' because one might weasel out of a situation with this linguistic vaguery around a double negative, but he did not mean this as a rule for the whole language.