2010-01-29-14:51:27
More double negatives
Thanks to @itspubnight, I can add the beautiful word "unironic" to the list of words like irregardless and notwithstanding.
Double negatives do definitely NOT resolve to positives.
2010-01-25-10:37:52
Do double negatives resolve to a positive?
I was recently berated by a friend when I used the term "irregardless". It was a casual usage and, although I don't use the word very often, I thought it perfect for the context. The context was one where I wanted to draw attention to a domain, as a context, but establish the independence of one instance of that domain, from that domain. So, with a single word, I can establish both membership and independence.
Another phrase we use to do things like this is "not unlike". When you say something is not unlike something else, you are not merely saying that the former is like the latter. You are not merely making a comparison. Hence, the double negative "not unlike" does NOT resolve to the positive "like". You are also not merely making a weakened contrast. So, it doesn't resolve to "a little bit unlike". Instead, you are drawing a qualified comparison and contrast with respect to a specific domain. It's a phrase we only use when our language is very context sensitive.
I believe we use "irregardless" in the same way. It does NOT merely resolve to "with regard", as so many pedants claim double negatives do. And I don't believe it resolves (as they say in the dictionaries) to "regardless". I think it acts as "not unlike" acts, and perhaps as "notwithstanding" acts. And I'm sure there are other examples.
However, I can't help but note the rather intense protestations the pedants (and pedant wanna-bes) make over the term. Why such vitriol? Why the rush to pretentious self-righteousness? Now, I'm the first to admit that there are a few words or usages that are pet peeves of my own. Nukular (a.k.a. nuclear) peeves me the most. If you want to see me get mad, wait till I've got a few pints in me and say that word! And, like everyone, I think my pet peeves have more basis than other peoples' pet peeves. But the pedantry surrounding "irregardless" has been elevated far above that of equivalent abuses like nukular. I just have to wonder why?
Needless to say [giggle], I will continue to use "irregardless" when I think it appropriate, if for no other reason than to fly my anti-intellectualist flag while dressed as a pseduo-intellectual.