The Trouble With "I don't think so."

[jmgarciaiii]

No: HPFGUIDX 94620

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" 
<justcarol67 at y...> wrote:

> I agree with Jessa. "I don't *think* so" in this context means
> "absolutely not."

I'm not entirely convinced this is so (not entirely convinced it 
ISN'T, either), for the simple reason that a phrase like "absolutely 
not" is not open to a broad spectrum of interpretation, but a phrase 
like "Erm...I don't think so" has other possible, plausible ways of 
being examined.

It could mean:

* "Snape? A vampire? What utter rubbish!"
* "Well, sure, he's a vampire but he doesn't like hanging around 
with any of them, if you'll forgive the expression."
* "I left some clues, but I haven't decided if he'll be a vampire, a 
bat animagus or just a member of the Bela Lugosi fan club."
* "He takes a potion that keeps his vampirism in remission,which is 
good because he is deeply in denial of the whole thing."


> If JKR thinks Snape has no connection with vampires,
> then he has none.

But she could be saying he has no associations with OTHER vampires, 
not that he hasn't associations with vampirism. (What, are vampires 
gregarious?)

-Joe in SoFla who hasn't been convinced either way