I've got to know, an' I'd sooner know from you than anybody else." "Well, then, you say, 'You was'; it should be, 'You were.' You say 'I seen' for 'I saw.' You use the double negative--" "What's the double negative ?" he demanded; then added humbly, "You see, I don't even understand your explanations." "I'm afraid I didn't explain that," she smiled.

"A double negative is--let me see--well, you say, 'never helped nobody.' 'Never' is a negative.

'Nobody' is another negative.

It is a rule that two negatives make a positive.

'Never helped nobody' means that, not helping nobody, they must have helped somebody." "That's pretty clear," he said.