talking about nothing

[navi tasan]

1) He was talking about nothing.
2) He wasn't talking about anything.
3) He wasn't talking about anything in particular.

I think the first sentence works and means that he was basically talking without saying anything useful or truly meaningful.
To me, he second one doesn't seem to work. '3' works and is a lot less negative than '1'. It just means that he didn't have any special subject to talk about and was just chatting.

Is that correct?

Gratefully,
Navi.

 

[Tdol]

The second works for me. I agree that the third is less negative than the first.

 

[navi tasan]

Thank you very much, Tdol, for all your kind replies,

So, '2' would mean the same as '1'?

Gratefully,
Navi.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Yes.

 

[Tdol]

Yes, but the first could be used to carry more emphasis. A lot would depend on intonation.