Dave Sill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> UTC is GMT, right?
>
> Since the assertion is false, the answer is clearly negative ("no" or
> "wrong"). Throwing the "not" before the assertion reverses it:
>
> UTC is GMT, not right?
You are being pedantic, are you not? Yes--and you're mistaken. This
particular use of 'not' is purely idiomatic. (Indeed, many languages
have an identical idiom. There is something linguistically significant
going on here.)
In English, ``Is that true?'' and ``Isn't that true?'' and ``Is that
not true?'' all mean exactly the same thing: the opposite of ``Is that
untrue?'' The 'not' in the latter two sentences is a particle of emphasis,
not a negation.
In other words, ``Is that true?'' carries no connotation concerning
whether you think it is or is not true. But ``Isn't that true?''
carries the connotation that, though you are asking, you already believe
it to be true. You are asking for confirmation, rather than information.
A look at the original post will confirm that this exactly how Mr. Yelich
was using the idiom.
Len.
PS We New Englanders use negatives in other contexts as particles of
emphasis. For example, if you boast, ``I can build a Linux mail server
in under an hour,'' I might reply, ``So can't my mother.''
(For non-New Englanders, the reply means, ``My mother also can, so
what's the big deal?'' The idiom is most often used in the sentence,
``So can't anybody!'' The usage is sarcastic, and for that reason
adults generally don't use it.)
