negation - "I leaked nothing to nobody." - SAE? AAVE? Deliberate double negative?
"I leaked nothing to nobody" (around 3:42 in the video)
Is the sentence above from Susan Rice grammatically correct in standard American English (SAE)? Seems like it should be:
I leaked nothing to anybody/anyone.
If not SAE, is it maybe African American Vernacular English (AAVE)?
If not AAVE, would the double negative make it a positive? Maybe weasel wording or understatement (litotes)?
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