Rare "Quintuple Negative"

Flint · 09-01-2006, 10:36 AM

(True Story)

This guy said to me, "I ain't never met nobody who didn't know how to make no napalm." That, my friends is a Quintuple Negative, which, remarkably, imparts a net positive. It breaks down like this:

"I ain't [1st negative makes it negative] never [2nd negative makes it positive] met nobody [3rd negative makes it negative again] who didn't [4th negative makes it positive again] know how to make no [5th negative makes it negative again, again] napalm."

The direct (net positive) statement would read: "Everyone I have ever met knows how to make napalm."

09-01-2006, 10:36 AM	#1
Flint Snowflake Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Dystopia Posts: 13,136	Rare "Quintuple Negative" (True Story) This guy said to me, "I ain't never met nobody who didn't know how to make no napalm." That, my friends is a Quintuple Negative, which, remarkably, imparts a net positive. It breaks down like this: "I ain't [1st negative makes it negative] never [2nd negative makes it positive] met nobody [3rd negative makes it negative again] who didn't [4th negative makes it positive again] know how to make no [5th negative makes it negative again, again] napalm." The direct (net positive) statement would read: "Everyone I have ever met knows how to make napalm." __________________ **************** There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terry Bozzio**

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