I didn't do nothing!

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

Observe:

Thug 1: You can't do nothing to me man! You can go to hell!
Policeman: What is it that I can't do? Nothing?
Thug 1: You heard me right! You can't do nothing to me!
Policeman: So I can do anything to you?

End observation.

Obviously Thug 1 doesn't frequent this site often. His sentence doesn't make any sense at all.

Can't do nothing? Huh? What? Let us dissect this sentence and find the true meaning behind it!

Can + not + do + nothing = Modal Verb + Negative + Verb + Negative

In this case, the not is used to indicate the negative state of the modal verb can to indicate an inability of someone or something to do something.

Do is an intransitive verb which according to dictionary.com means to perform or execute something. The usage of do in conjuction with nothing (do nothing) indicates that nothing is being performed or executed.

So when we combine can not + do nothing, we get =

Inability of someone or something to perform or execute nothing.

Which doesn't make sense at all. What he probably wanted to say is:

You can't do anything to me.

Which means:

Inability of someone or something to perform anything.

Aaaah, which makes more sense because maybe the policeman is powerless to do anything. Why is he powerless? Who knows, maybe the thug has political immunity like many of those working at the United Nations who park their cars anywhere they like because they don't have to pay parking tickets.

So the moral of this entry is: Instead of saying I didn't do nothing, say I didn't do anything. It makes more sense.

Allah knows best.