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Comment by 4oh9do | Hacker News Reader

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4oh9do·

> the ads are annoying but it's fine

This doesn't parse. It's like saying 'this apple is rotten but it's fine'.

If the apple is rotten, then it is not fine.

If the television has annoying ads, then it is not fine.

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This is a common way of speaking in American English. For example

"Hey earlier today you fell down, how's your elbow feeling?"

"Not too bad, it's annoying but it's fine"

Double negatives are very much a British English thing and are commonly used in every day language.

I think you would have avoided all the downvotes with, "Double negatives are very much an English language thing and are commonly used in every day language", since American and British English both involve double negatives in colloquial usage.

I only know a handful of Americans and we often talk about the differences in our language. Even had an Australian join the conversation once too and it was a very interesting discussion.

The use of double negatives stood out as something more commonly used in British English however I accept it was a very small sample size!

It does parse. It's not like what you say, it more like "this apple has a bruise and some blemishes but I'm still happy to consume it". Television has had annoying ads for much of the past century and millions of people still found enough value in it to watch it.

I can't speak for the parent comment, but when I use such a grammatical construct, I mean that although it is suboptimal, I am putting up with it. It does not mean that I think it is ok.

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