Smarter than the average test-taking wombat

[womzilla]

I am smarter than 98.33% of the rest of the world.
Hardest Quiz Ever

via agrumer.

Be warned--if you take it seriously, it will take you a while, even though it's only 20 multiple-choice questions.

Comments

[drelmo.livejournal.com]

Oh, and there's a difference between the answer they wanted on the moon question, and the correct answer according to the English language, which does not treat negatives like logical operators.

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

Actually, they're the same answer if you treat multiple negatives as intensifiers.

[drelmo.livejournal.com]

With not treated logically, (-1)^5 = -1 = your mom. Treating adjacent nots as intensifiers, there are two instances of negation (not a person who did not step) = Neil.

That being said, when I read the sentence out loud, I read the first set of negatives as intensifiers, but I actually read the second with negative scoping "has not (not set foot)", which brings us back to your mom; but mostly, it goes to point out that the sentence is likely to be perceived as ambiguous in actual discourse and to require clarification.

[avram]

[...] the English language, which does not treat negatives like logical operators.

While your complaint is not untrue, their answer is not incorrect.

I don't want no misunderstanding here -- there are widely accepted English idioms where two negatives evaluate as an intense single negative. But it ain't the case that there's no contrariwise examples.

[drelmo.livejournal.com]

I overspoke initially. I don't think the English parsing is opposite their desired answer. I now think that there is no English parsing that all communicants will agree about.

Negative scoping, negative polarity items, implicit negativity, and the like are important and complicated topics in English grammar, and pop up often on Language Log.