Double negative

One of the easiest flannels for a new learner to master. It can be as simple as “you’re not wrong”, or “I don’t disagree”, it can be subtly buried in a redundant expression like unless and until, or it can find its full-bodied roar, as in that most magnificent contortion, the Indemnifiable Tax definition in the ISDA Master Agreement - a quintuple negative:

“An Indemnifiable Tax is any Tax that is not a Stamp Tax that is not a tax that would not be imposed if there were not a connection between the taxing authority’s jurisdiction and the recipient that did not arise solely from the recipient having performed any part of this Agreement in that jurisdiction.

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