Never Not Nothing
I need some help parsing this phrase.
Last night as I was leaving a cabinet meeting at church, I hit the scan button on the radio and happened to hear these words used in one sentence. Some will be perhaps appalled by the use of such grammar others will perhaps care less. My mind went racing elsewhere - the implications of what the person was saying.
As it turns out, I had inadvertently found the local ABC affiliate who evidently broadcasts on FM radio in addition to television. I discovered later that I was listening to the start of "Wifeswap" and one of the participants was a mother, from Kentucky, who spent 1/4 of her family's income on beauty pageants for her 5 year old daughter. Now before you start railing on Kentucky, remember that is the state of my birth, the state in which I attended college, and the state of my favorite basketball team which happened to defeat Indiana over the weekend (although I'm not sure they'll win any further games this year). As they were introducing the participants, I heard this woman say that "My daughter never walked off the stage with not nothing." I'm not promising that this is an exact quote but I do believe it is what I heard.
It started me thinking about what she was really saying. I think she was trying to say that this was a rewarding experience for her daughter and that she always took home a crown or trophy of some kind. But I think what she really said was that her daughter always walks off the stage with nothing. Where is the meaning in these activities? Where is the depth? Is this mother teaching her daughter to contribute to the world and make it a more humane place? Never, not nothing -- nothing to hang on to, nothing to build upon, nothing to share with anyone else.
If you get it parsed, please let me know so that I might find something else in the words she offered. By the way, the next station that the scan button found was the "Classical Connection" - a nightly offering of classical music on public radio. It was a fascinating juxtaposition.
posted by baldpreacher @ 10:53 AM
3 Comments:
I think you correctly summarized what the woman intended to say about her daughter's experience--each time she entered a contest she received something.
However, in her statement, the word "not" negates "nothing" and turns it into "something" so she actually said that her daughter never left the stage with something turning the "never something" into "always nothing". Oh my!
Teachers warned us about using double negatives. And good friends don't let friends watch/listen to the "trophy" wives from "Wifeswap"! :)
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Dale, this post makes realize what my question is. I know I'm a post late, but I just want to know, Why? Why do Americans get caught up in such things as child beauty pageants?
In some ways I struggle with similar issues. My daughter thrills me with her desire to play basketball. Where is the line between 'encourage' and 'push?'
I guess the important thing is to avoid the vicarious obsession that infects some parents. Make sure that your child never comes away with never not nothing. Or something like that.
The double negatives remind me of "Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy."
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