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The F-word will be used as an example.

I was talking with a friend and noticed that the two following statements have equivalent meaning

  1. I give a fuck.
  2. I don't give a fuck.

Which draw my attention since we are negating (but not really) the first statement and arriving at the second with an equivalent meaning.

Is there a name for this concept? Are there any other examples (perhaps less offensive) of this?

KillingTime
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Choripán Con Pebre
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    One similar example is "regardless of that fact, I think we should ..." and "irregardless of that fact, I think we should". That said, once can debate if "irregardless" is really proper English, but it is a word where negating it ("ir" negating it) retains the same meaning. I don't know of the name, but that is a less-offensive example, although it is one word not an entire sentance – cocomac Jul 30 '22 at 05:52
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    Interesting question to which I have no answer. Another example is “He wasn’t there when I called.” “No, he was at work..” or “Yes, he was at work.” – Anton Jul 30 '22 at 06:41
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    These seem to be examples of things that some people say even though they are a logical nonsense (like I could care less ). I don't give a [swear-word of choice] means I don't care, and regardless means without giving any regard to, so it doesn't need a negative prefix as well. – Kate Bunting Jul 30 '22 at 07:40
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    In my experience your two example statements do not have the same meaning. – nnnnnn Jul 30 '22 at 11:51
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    I searched on google Ngrams, and "I give a fuck" is most commonly used to mean "I care", the opposite of "I don't give a fuck" ("I don't care"). – Edward Jul 30 '22 at 16:19
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    @nnnnnn - Agree. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard the first one. Maybe as a question, implying the answer is "no"? Or used emphatically, but clearly in contrast to the second version "Yes, in fact, I do give a fuck."? Regardless, they are not at all equivalent. – JonathanZ Jul 30 '22 at 16:30
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    Give a fuck, like drink a drop, eat a bite, lift a finger, etc. is a member of the "Minimal Direct Object" class of Negative Polarity Items. It turns out that the term you're looking for is Negation, which includes such phenomena, among many others. Oh, and the reason I answered in a comment is because I've already answered this question dozens of times, but nobody noticed. – John Lawler Jul 30 '22 at 18:15
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    If you're asking about Give a damn/fuck/shit versus Don't give ..., that's "Negation by Association", same as French pas from ne ... pas becoming negative. Similar remarks with I could(n't) care less. – John Lawler Jul 30 '22 at 18:25
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    If this is about the words, can you find a better example?

    I suggest outside US America, "everyone knows" the difference between "I give…" and "I don't give…" is immense. Doesn't that work for you?

    In US America, what examples can you Post to show that "I give… " and "I don't give…" share their meanings?

    You seem to be relying on the emphasis Rhet Butler put on "… I don't give a damn" in Gone with the Wind.

    In US American English that was as Clark Gable spoke the line, "I don't GIVE a damn…"

    British English would always use "I don't give a DAMN…"

    Bar that difference, what?

     – Robbie Goodwin Jul 30 '22 at 21:42
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    My favourite example, in Czech, is "stvůra" and "nestvůra", both meaning "monster" now. – Edheldil Jul 31 '22 at 10:44

2 Answers2

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They belong to a class of words or phrases called opposonyms.

opposonym: a word or phrase that appears to be the opposite of another word or phrase but actually has the same or a similar meaning, such as flammable and inflammable or fat chance and slim chance. (wikipedia)

More examples:

Opposonyms are sometimes confused with (or dare I say, are not to be confused with?) contranyms, which are single words that can have opposite meanings.

Regardless (irregardless?) of what they're called, I would say that your examples "I give a fuck" and "I don't give a fuck" in fact have opposite meanings. I welcome you to present evidence otherwise, if you're up (down?) for it.

Laurel
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Dan
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    Isn't "I'm so sure" just garden variety sarcasm? – nnnnnn Jul 30 '22 at 11:54
  • @nnnnnn I'm not so sure. Maybe it's both? – Dan Jul 30 '22 at 12:59
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    In UK English, “I could care less” has its literal meaning — it means that you do care by some amount. Here it is the opposite of “I couldn't care less”. (And it can be highly confusing to read/hear people using it to mean the same…) In fact, I suspect that in UK English, none of the examples you quote would be genuine ‘oppospnyms’. – gidds Jul 30 '22 at 15:18
  • Another slightly different example: "nothing is better than peanut butter" vs "peanut butter is better than nothing". – Michael Kay Jul 30 '22 at 20:44
  • @nnnnnn Your "garden variety sarcasm" comment has received lots of upvotes - you've planted a seed of doubt in my mind. But I'm still not sure if opposonym and sarcasm are mutually exclusive. "Opposonym" does not seem to be a formal concept, so there may be no answer here. Anyway, for a more formal answer to the OP, I would recommend John Lawler's comment under the OP. – Dan Jul 30 '22 at 23:29
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Most of the pairings cited are just use of ironic tone:
"I couldn't care less" -- literal
"I could care less" -- ironic

"I don't give a rat's patootie" -- literal
"I give a rat's patootie" -- ironic.

"Yeah -- that's a great idea" -- literal
"Yeah -- that's a great idea" -- ironic.

The opposite of flammable is nonflammable.

Irregardless is generally considered to be the illegitimate child of "irrespective" and "regardless."

KillingTime
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Tom in WV
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