That apology means/doesn't mean diddly-squat.

[sitifan]

"that apology means diddly-squat"
diddly-squat: nothing at all
Source: https://en.bab.la/dictionary/english/diddly-squat

Can I say "that apology doesn't mean diddly-squat" instead?
diddly-squat: anything at all
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diddly-squat

 

[jutfrank]

People commonly do colloquially but you'd essentially be using a double negative, which sounds to me at least somewhat dialectical, so I recommend you don't. In fact, I don't think you should use 'diddly squat' at all at your level—it's very slangy.

 

[Skrej]

It's extremely common, at least in my region. I use it myself a lot. I don't have any reservations with anyone else using it.

 

[SoothingDave]

Also "jack squat."

 

[sitifan]

It's extremely common, at least in my region. I use it myself a lot. I don't have any reservations with anyone else using it.

Which would you use: "that apology means diddly-squat" or "that apology doesn't mean diddly-squat"?

 

[SoothingDave]

I would use the double negative.

 

[Skrej]

Which would you use: "that apology means diddly-squat" or "that apology doesn't mean diddly-squat"?

Yes, I use the double-negative.

I'll say something like "You didn't do diddly-squat on your homework assignment, did you?"

 

[Tarheel]

My dog ate my homework.

 

[jutfrank]

Also "jack squat."

More courser-tongued folk speaking in my dialect would extend that further to 'jack sh*t'.

You don't know jack sh*t.



(Mods: Is it against forum etiquette to write 'shi*t' in full, or is this allowed?)

 

[sitifan]

More courser-tongued folk speaking in my dialect would extend that further to 'jack sh*t'.

Is it a typo?

 

[jutfrank]

Is it a typo?

Yes, it was an error. It should have been 'coarser-tongued'. I wasn't thinking of battle horses.

 

[SoothingDave]

We do prefer that you censor curse words.

 

[jutfrank]

We do prefer that you censor curse words.

Okay, but why? And how do you determine whether a word is a curse word? I'm just curious.

 

[Skrej]

We do ask users to censor profanity. It's actually in the forum rules (#3), primarily as a manner of regulating forum decorum and civility. However, the rule does allow inclusion for learning purposes, if censored.

Mods will go in and edit for censoring if needed, since members sometimes don't remember the prohibition.

The censoring for legitimate language discussion is primarily to prevent web-crawlers and bots from picking up on the profanity, which could lead to our site either being black-listed or suggested as some kind of adult site - neither desirable for our site on language usage.

We also allow users as young as 14, so I imagine there's also legal and/or moral issues with exposing minors to profanity.

There's no official list of censored words, but if in doubt, censor it. Of course everyone has different standards of what's considered profane, but in general if you wouldn't utter it in church, in front of your grandmother, Methodist preacher, or a kindergarten class, err on the side of caution and censor it.

Moderators have the ultimate decision on whether to censor a word, and will notify the OP of having done so.

 

[sitifan]

Yes, it was an error. It should have been 'coarser-tongued'. I wasn't thinking of battle horses.

Did you mean 'coarseR-tongued' or 'coarse-tongued'?
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/coarse?q=coarser

 

[jutfrank]

I edited that post in a hurry and failed to check it. Twice. Apologies. I confused the following:

Coarser-tongued folk
More coarse-tongued folk

 

[BobK]

More courser-tongued folk speaking in my dialect would extend that further to 'jack sh*t'.

You don't know jack sh*t.
...

Going back to 'diddly squat', I think the tendency to use a double negative is stronger when talking to someone who might not know what 'diddly-squat' means.

Personally I try to avoid double negatives - not because they're 'wrong' (many great writers use them) but because my grandfather (a very stern old stick) thought they were. But in a very informal context I might go one step further and say 'it don't mean diddly-squat' (echoing the song 'It don't mean a thing / If it ain't got that swing'

 

[jutfrank]

In parts of London

Going back to 'diddly squat', I think the tendency to use a double negative is stronger when talking to someone who might not know what 'diddly-squat' means.

That's an interesting idea.

In certain London sociolects, a keen observer may even be lucky enough to hear a magnificent triple negative!:

He don't know nothing about nothing.

Spoken as: ('E dunno nuffink abaa' nuffink)