0
Kyohei Shiozaki Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
Double negative
It seems the use of double negative is common in music (particularly hiphop and R&B). And I don't usually have any trouble to understand that.
See, “I ain't worried 'bout nothin'" means "I don't worry about anything", "There ain't no elevator" means "There is no elevator" right ?
However, I don't really know whether I understand correctly this line.
"But he who loves nothing will never have nothing at all"
It is from the song named "Have Nots" produced by rapper B.o.B. The whole hook goes like this.
"We are the have-nots who never had nothing.
But learned to make something, out of never having nothing at all.
And you could have it all and feel you never need nothing.
But he who loves nothing will never have nothing at all."
My understanding is...
"We are the have-nots who had nothing.
But I learned to make something, out of having nothing at all.
And you could have it all and feel you need nothing.
But he who loves nothing will have nothing at all."
As I mentioned, the hardest part to understand is the last line. While I think my understanding above is more appropriate, I wonder this could also be the case.
"But he who loves "nothing" will have everything at all." which means loving "nothing"(loving not having anything) will let you have everything.
What do you think about this?
See, “I ain't worried 'bout nothin'" means "I don't worry about anything", "There ain't no elevator" means "There is no elevator" right ?
However, I don't really know whether I understand correctly this line.
"But he who loves nothing will never have nothing at all"
It is from the song named "Have Nots" produced by rapper B.o.B. The whole hook goes like this.
"We are the have-nots who never had nothing.
But learned to make something, out of never having nothing at all.
And you could have it all and feel you never need nothing.
But he who loves nothing will never have nothing at all."
My understanding is...
"We are the have-nots who had nothing.
But I learned to make something, out of having nothing at all.
And you could have it all and feel you need nothing.
But he who loves nothing will have nothing at all."
As I mentioned, the hardest part to understand is the last line. While I think my understanding above is more appropriate, I wonder this could also be the case.
"But he who loves "nothing" will have everything at all." which means loving "nothing"(loving not having anything) will let you have everything.
What do you think about this?
Top answer
Kyohei Shiozaki - "We are the have-nots who never had nothing. But learned to make something, out of never having nothing at all. And you could have it all and feel you never need nothing.
- Kyohei Shiozaki - "We are the have-nots who never had nothing.
- But learned to make something, out of never having nothing at all.
- And you could have it all and feel you never need nothing.
- " The non-rap version: "We are the have-nots who never had anything.
- But learned to make something out of never having anything at all.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
2 Answers
0
Kyohei Shiozaki-The non-rap version:
"We are the have-nots who never had nothing.
But learned to make something, out of never having nothing at all.
And you could have it all and feel you never need nothing.
But he who loves nothing will never have nothing at all."
"We are the have-nots who never had anything.
But learned to make
00
Thank you very much, CJ.
Yes, I thought about "at all" thing and felt it is odd, but I thought it could be possible because it is a rap music. It's like they use totally different English you know what I'm saying? But seems like not on this one. Again big thanks to you CJ, I appreciate it.
Yes, I thought about "at all" thing and felt it is odd, but I thought it could be possible because it is a rap music. It's like they use totally different English you know what I'm saying? But seems like not on this one. Again big thanks to you CJ, I appreciate it.
0
Related Questions