When popular musician, Tuface Idibia (2Baba), intensely apologised to his wife, Annie, and his other loved ones a few days ago, he predictably ignited a controversy. Soberly, he told his family that he had disappointed them in some critical areas and he needed forgiveness. It shouldn’t be too much news that the confession sparked various interpretations and rumours, with some saying the cross-generational ‘African Queen’ singer had impregnated a banker.
While his manager, Efe Omoregbe, has refuted the pregnancy claim, describing it as fake news, I observe that the intrigue the Tuface’s declaration stirred up has a grammatical component. In the post, he featured an expression that would not let the sleeping dog of double negatives lie.
In English grammar, ‘double negatives’ or double negation describes a situation two negative terms are used in a clause. It contradicts standard grammar rule, though it is accepted in some dialects and other languages. As a result, it is not encouraged in formal contexts as far as the English Language is concerned. Examples are, with the standard versions first:
I don’t want egg. (Standard)
I want no egg. (Standard)
I don’t want any egg. (Standard)
I don’t want no egg. (Double negatives)
Here is how Tuface used the concept:
I’m not looking for no sympathy.
In the statement, ‘not’ and ‘no’ are combined, thus violating the structural balance of negative plus positive (and vice-versa) expected in the sentence. These are the standard versions of the expression:
I’m not looking for any sympathy.
I’m looking for no sympathy. (Not as convincing as the above)
I don’t need any sympathy.
I need no sympathy.
Note that words/phrases such as nobody, no one, nowhere and nothing do not normally collocate with negative verbs. So, it is far more common to hear ‘He gave me nothing’ than ‘He didn’t give me nothing’. In this wise, other examples of double negatives are:
I don’t have no money.
I didn’t see nobody there.
I won’t vote for nobody.
Jude doesn’t love nobody.
She won’t just trust no one.
So, when Tuface says ‘I’m not looking for no sympathy’ he has employed double negatives which many of us are also at times tempted to use. Well, because Tuface is communicating with his family, and also through social media, the construction can be overlooked. But the lesson is that it should not be carried over to formal settings.
Triple negatives
Experience has shown that it is possible to go farther than Tuface did – by using triple negatives:
The candidate didn’t say nothing inspiring to no one. (Substandard)
The candidate didn’t say anything interesting to anyone. (Standard)
No one has not given me no food since morning.
Ambiguity
Double negatives can cause ambiguity. For instance, what actually is this guy saying below?
Ralph is not unintelligent.
Is it that Ralph is intelligent or that he is? What do you think?
It can be that tricky to handle the concept because some double negatives can resolve to a positive while others consistently remain negative.
Positive
They didn’t not hold the meeting today.
You can’t not afford to watch the movie.
Negative
She didn’t go nowhere yesterday.
I’m not hungry no more
What is the meaning of the sentence below too?
No one has not given me no food since morning.
The confusion the statement harbours should convince you about the need to sparingly use double or more negatives.
Meanwhile, thanks to 2Baba for inspiring the lesson.
