# Double Negative: "Isn't that right?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 24, 2006, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-negative-isnt-that-right/377707 "2006-10-24T14:35:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-negative-isnt-that-right/377707/21 "2006-10-25T19:59:32Z")
[QUOTE=mnemosyne] I grew up speaking Québec French and I don’t think I have ever heard of this. “Si” to me means “if” and is used to describe conditional situations. I Googled and did find references for this, but I suspect, at least in this part of the world, that it is a usage that is fading away. Can anyone confirm? [/QUOTE] “Si” is rarely used in Quebec French, but yes, it does indeed mean what **Noone Special** says it does. I don’t know if it is more widely used in other francophone countries, maybe **clairobscur** or someone else can tell us. Of course, “si” also means “if”, among other things, but in this case it’s a conjunction, not an adverb. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-negative-isnt-that-right/377707/22 "2006-10-25T20:38:21Z")
heh, and I call myself bilingual. Still, I have a feeling that if I were to use “si” like this at work, people would look at me funny and/or ask me if I actually speak Spanish or something! Good to learn something new, though - it doesn’t happen every day! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-negative-isnt-that-right/377707.md?page=1)