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usage - Are "not uncommon" and similar phrases double negatives? Should their use be avoided?


When I think of double negatives I think of phrases that grate on the ears, like:



I'm not going to do no homework.


I'm never going to not go visit Graceland.



There are some phrases that appear to technically be considered a double negative, but seem more common and are, in my opinion, actually pleasing to the ear. And I've seen such uses in newspaper articles, magazine articles, and other edited content.


I'm referring to phrases like:



It's not uncommon for two people to meet serendipitously.


Baseball is not unlike golf - both are boring to watch without a beer in hand.


It's not unusual to be loved by anyone.



Are the above examples of double negatives? Should their use be avoided?



Answer



To answer your first explicit question, I would say they are double negatives:



A double negative occurs when two forms of negation are used in the same clause.



To answer the second question, I would say the use of litotes is perfectly acceptable.



Litotes is a form of understatement, always deliberate and with the intention of emphasis. However, the interpretation of negation may depend on context, including cultural context. In speech, it may also depend on intonation and emphasis; for example, the phrase "not bad" can be said in such a way as to mean anything from "mediocre" to "excellent."



The respective Wikipedia articles (linked to and excerpted above) give a lot of good information. I would like to emphasize the potential ambiguity in litotes, in that the intensity of the double-negative-as-positive ranges from "mildly positive" to "resoundingly positive".


Finally, see this other EL&U question covering the specific example of not uncommon.


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