Dialects & Accents (Was Re: Subject-Verb agreement with compound subjects)

[potioncat]

> Mike:
> How would y'all translate a triple negative? 
> 
> I recently overheard a woman on a cell phone telling someone: 
> "I ain't never not told him ..."
> So, did she tell him or not? 
> 
> This was "up north" PC. ;-)


Potioncat: 
Isn't it obvious?

(Potioncat wonders if Mike is just teasing, and of course it's 
obvious to him.)

She has never "not told him" as in " I've never not told him the 
truth when he asked me how he looked."

Ain't never is the same as haven't ever (or have never).

...Just because, that's why. 



On the other hand, does anyone else say something along the line 
of "Why don't we buy a new rug?" Doesn't that mean the speaker wants 
to buy one? I get teased for talking like this all the time.

English isn't logical. After all, a fat chance and a slim chance are 
the same thing.