Double Negative
Thu, 29/11/2007 - 9:01am — arleeshar
Turns out that Abbott’s grammar skills are as telling as his People Skills.
He pledged to serve loyally under the new leader but predicted people would soon realise the Howard years would “seem like the golden age” and those associated with it would not be tainted. “I wouldn’t be surprised if at some time in the future I’m not a candidate for the leadership,” he said.
We wouldn’t be surprised either, Tony. At least, that’s the result we’d be hoping for.
Mark wrote:
That’s not a double negative; the context is intensional. “I wouldn’t be surprised if at some time in the future I’m not a candidate” does not imply that he would be surprised if he were a candidate. It would seem that he has fucked this up and meant to say that he wouldn’t be surprised if he were a candidate, but it’s not ungrammatical for the use of two negatives in one sentence. It is however ungrammatical in that he says “I’m” instead of “I were”.
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