Hi all, have you guys found an interesting English expression-"I didn't see nothing!"? was it wrong or was it English logic? I thought it supposed to be "I didn't see anythig!". Can any English native speaker tell me why is that? Thanks!
Its slang, and actually said very commonly including among well educated people in informal settings... I and my friends use it when joking about something they did indeed see "pretending" they havent (when all parties involved know its a joke).
I disagree with people who think slang isn't "proper" language. Yes you dont want to write professional emails or conduct business meetings with it, just like you dont want to curse or talk about certain subjects in polite company, but if you want to fit in with locals, colloquialisms slang and set phrases, all of which could be quite wrong when it comes to "Propah Ehnglish" (<<Proper English>> with me making fun of linguist elitists) are very important.
Its all about context and setting. There are also many things I learned as proper grammer in school that simply arent followed in every day speaking including double negatives and especially ending sentences with prepositions
Slang is important in the United States. It tells a lot about where a person is from, the memories they try to keep alive, the company they keep and the people they are NOT trying to impress. There are some Americans who even prefer to use the word nothing because of their fondness for Sgt. Schultz in the old television show, Hogans Heros. The world takes all kinds.
Sometimes, many Americans, including myself, employ slang. I do it when I want to be "cute" and imitate people who simply do not know how to speak proper English. One of the common rural expressions that I can use is this one; "It don't make no nevermind to me!" It is a terrible construction grammatically, but I learned this from my ethnic group in my childhood.
Another example of Americans using an idiom that is a terrible expression grammatically, is when you hear them say, "Yorta" as in; "Yorta do this." "Yorta do that." It is a distortion of the words
"You ought to."
(hope that helps you)
Jmat is right. The only language I know where double negations are correct is Spanish. You can use a double negation correctly though. I think it has a special meaning. I think this should be okay, for example:
It is not that you are not attractive.
The sentence could be used, when you say to someone you do not want to have a relationship with him. You are saying here that the reason is NOT that he is ugly (NOT attactive).
Like:
Do you want to be my girl friend.
No.
Why?
Just no, please I do not want to.
Don't you like me? I am ugly?
No, it is not that you are not attactive.
I just think our personlities do not match.
Something like that.
