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A comment on Cognitive deficits in people who have recovered from Covid-19. Parent comment

Re:Cognitive deficits in people who have recovered from Covi... by justnotworthit on Wednesday October 21, 2020 @10:42AM (#24848336)
The "not un" has a long history of debate amongst stylists. I believe it's easily overused because it has certain air of erudition about it. However, sometimes "not un" is straightforward and clearer than the alternatives. In this context... well.. science journals have their own English journalese that lives outside general usage.
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Re:Cognitive deficits in people who have recovered from Covi... by mekoka on Wednesday October 21, 2020 @11:03AM (#24848525)
The double negative has its use beyond language sophistication. It can serve to more specifically mark a neutral stance in a vocabulary that may seem to only offer a dichotomy. e.g. what I have available is I like her and I don't like her, but what I mean to say is I don't dislike her.
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Re:Cognitive deficits in people who have recovered from Covi... by drcongo on Wednesday October 21, 2020 @11:35AM (#24848848)
That example sentence is a perfect usage of an English double negative, the only thing missing is the emphasis which should be on "dis" - if spoken without the emphasis it becomes simply a statement on not disliking someone without the hint that one also definitely doesn't _like_ the person.
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