Mariah Carey - We belong together

[Dressman]

Hello everybody,

im Text von Mariah Carey's Song We belong together heißt eine Strophe:

I didn't know nothing. Wie kann man diesen Satz verstehen? Heißt es nicht :!: I didn't know anything :!: ??

I'm looking forward to having an answer. It would be very nice.

Dressman

[Brabax]

...aber um die Frage trotzdem zu beantworten ( ) : Es heisst, dass sie nichts weisz

[Cliff]

I can't get no satisfaction!
Who's going to tell Mr. Jagger that his English is not correct?

I know this is a little confusing for someone who learnt in school that you aren't supposed to use double negation in English.
We discussed this very example in our linguistics seminar this semester and our lecturer drew the conclusion that no one would doubt Jagger's knowledge of the English language and, therefore, it has to be grammatical.
I'd say double negation is rather informal and, thus, should only be used in spoken English (by native speakers).

[Dressman]

Hallo,

wenn ich das auf deutsch jetzt richtig verstanden habe, ist doppelte Verneinung sehr informal und nicht grammatisch richtig. es wird aber trotzdem verstanden , nicht wahr?

Dancer