>> I'm not privy to the machinations of all the Brit fishwives here.
>> -Rich
>
> Apparently you're not privy to bugger all.
> > Apparently you're not privy to bugger all.
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> Inquiring minds, sorta.
John, logically you're correct - bugger all usually means nothing, "there's
bugger all in my bank account" for example. But in this sense peculiarly it
means the opposite, ie, you're not privy to anything. To be absolutely
accurate though, the whole sentence is a double negative, like "I an't got
nothing". I'll shut up there before I confuse myself as well as you! Any
other Brits watching may want to help me out here! But I did mean he's
privy to nothing - as we all know.
Helen
John P McWilliams - 02 Feb 2006 02:37 GMT
>>> Apparently you're not privy to bugger all.
>>>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> other Brits watching may want to help me out here! But I did mean he's
> privy to nothing - as we all know.
Yes, thanks, I was clear on what you meant. Just didn't know if bugger
all was commonly used as "anything" or if your double negative was
unintentional. Anyhoooo, it's been a long time since I lived on the
Isles. Actually , the big one. N.of London. 18 mi. So, onto the next
one, as in "another one bites the dust", understanding, of course, that
probably no one is actually trying to eat dust.
--
john mcwilliams
Prometheus - 02 Feb 2006 06:14 GMT
>> > Apparently you're not privy to bugger all.
>>
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>privy to nothing - as we all know.
>Helen
A double negative in colloquial speech is used as a means of emphasizing
the negativity and not as a Boolean operator.

Signature
Ian G8ILZ
> Possibly do you mean he *is* privy to bugger all? Unless I've totally lost
> it on Brit-isms, bugger all means naught, nothing. Unless you mean he is
> privy to everything....
>
> Inquiring minds, sorta.
Yup. On the other foot, i've seen a lot of Americans use the phrase "I could
care less about..." as opposed to the version "I couldn't care less
about..." i'm used to. I don't know if this is an Americanism, but the
version I know seems to make more sense.
Martin