Not ‘Not Unfair’

The opposite of ‘unfair’ is ‘fair’. Not ‘not unfair’.

So write “The Respondent has not shown a fair reason for the dismissal”, rather than “The Respondent has not shown a not unfair reason for dismissal”.

Double negatives aren’t necessarily sinful, but they should not be used without care.

5 Replies to “Not ‘Not Unfair’”

  1. George Orwell suggested that one can cure oneself of the not un- formation by memorizing this sentence: A not unblack dog was chasing a not unsmall rabbit across a not ungreen field.

    1. Orwell might have made an excellent tribunal advocate. That suggestion is, itself, an elegantly pointed bit of advocacy.

  2. I hate “really quite”. Really small means more than just small, as does quite small, but “really quite small” has no more meaning than “small”.

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