Judith Hehir Oct 20, 2011:

I am with... Andrew and Amy, Rachel. But you are right. It is a question of style. That's why I said, 'Some of us...' in the explanation accompanying my suggested translation.

Rachel Douglas Oct 20, 2011:

I don't see the problem ... because there's a huge difference between, say, "I ain't got no extra money," and the deliberate, calculated use of "not not" in a context like the one given - the second "not" being a substitute for "fail to"; it would be pronounced as Mark indicated by capitalizing the second "not," to show the emphasis. But that seemed obvious to me even without using italics or caps. Anyway, I think the judicious use of such double negatives is a question of style. It's an acceptable option, and it's the one I would prefer in a case like this, over cancelling the negatives out into a positive.

Andrew Sabak Oct 20, 2011:

As Judith and Amy both point out, one word has to be over-emphasized. Another variant might be "1) This can't be... / 2) But there it is... There's no way it's NOT [true, whatever] ..."

Judith Hehir Oct 20, 2011:

Thank you, Rachel. A nice quote indeed, but note that in both cases of the double negative, there is no repetition of "not not"— in each case, the second negation is conveyed by a negated prefix. "not not" really rezhet my ukho despite the fact that I hear it regularly.

Rachel Douglas Oct 20, 2011:

For Judi One of my favorite little passages in American literature:

"I do not speak it in vanity, but simply record the fact, that I was not unemployed in my profession by the late John Jacob Astor; a name which, I admit, I love to repeat, for it hath a rounded and orbicular sound to it, and rings like unto bullion. I will freely add, that I was not insensible to the late John Jacob Astor’s good opinion."