Nevertheless, they are a popular rhetorical device: Geoffrey Chaucer used them to humorous effect William Shakespeare slipped a triple negative into “ Twelfth Night.” The children on Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” famously sang “we don’t need no education,” Weird Al Yankovic shamed double negative users in his parody song “Word Crimes,” and Bart Simpson vowed on a chalkboard that he “won’t not use no double negatives.” However, we are unable to reach that judgment.”ĭouble negatives - commonly defined as a negative statement containing two negative elements - have long been abhorred by grammarians. history: “If we had had confidence … that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Lawmakers questioning former special prosecutor Robert Mueller on Wednesday tried mightily to decipher what may become the most infamous double negative in U.S. And now for the Back Story on … … Double negatives We also have five games that will help you through long trips. In an age of smartphone reading, Maryanne Wolf, the author of “Reader Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World,” recommends reading for 20 minutes every day in order to improve your focus.
Scientists and librarians have recommendations for creating the perfect reading environment. Smarter Living: Summer is for swimming, but it’s also reading season. Look: We spoke with six rising photographers and show you some of their works on display at the Rencontres d’Arles festival, in Arles, France. It has lost its teen spirit, but still “finds ways to charm you,” our critic writes.Įat: Our restaurant critic visits Mercado Little Spain, under Hudson Yards, and finds “more delicious things to eat per square foot than anywhere else in New York.” Watch: Hulu released its “Veronica Mars” revival a week early. It’s a fascinating peek into the rigorous process that our reporters adhere to.Ĭook: Try a different, full-bodied pesto made with broccoli and walnuts. He shares what he has found so far, after years of research in Beijing, about how the late Li Peng’s family accumulated its vast wealth. What we’re reading: This Twitter thread from one of our investigative reporters, Mike Forsythe. Some users pointed out that there was no need to storm Scotland’s popular tourist landmark as it is “open to the public 24/7, 365 days a year.” military site, to find the aliens said to be held there. Loch Ness monster: A Facebook event last week invited people to storm the Loch Ness lake in Scotland in September to find the fabled underwater creature, weeks after a similar event invited people to “storm Area 51,” a top-secret U.S. Temperatures in Britain, France and Germany are expected to hit record-breaking highs on Thursday in an intense heat wave sweeping parts of the continent.
Snapshot: Above, a crowded beach on the island of Usedom in the Baltic Sea where temperatures reached 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday. The warning came in Beijing’s new defense strategy white paper, and the chief spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense cited protests on Sunday outside the Chinese government’s liaison office in Hong Kong, which protesters painted with graffiti.Īnalysts said that the warning could inflame, rather than calm, the underlying grievances driving the protests in Hong Kong.Įxplainer: Soon after China resumed control over Hong Kong in 1997, the People’s Liberation Army established a garrison of 6,000 soldiers there, but China has never before ordered them to intervene in the territory’s affairs.Īccording to law, the military can intervene in “local affairs” only when requested by Hong Kong’s leaders.Īnother angle: Organized crime groups, known as the triads, have been blamed for an attack last weekend that appeared to target antigovernment protesters.
Beijing suggested on Wednesday that it was prepared to use military force in Hong Kong to maintain order and quell protests - its most explicit warning to date and a stark reminder of China’s ultimate control over the fate of the semiautonomous city.