From an NFL statement:
- “Both NFL Media and the AP do not ordinarily name the alleged victims….”
Let’s not talk about football. Let’s talk about kittens.
Say there are two kittens. How many will you take home?
With two kittens, you have three choices:
Both. Either. Or neither.
- If you answer “Both” OR you answer “Either,” you’re answering in the positive. In other words, you’ll go home with at least one kitten.
- If you answer “Neither,” you’re answering in the negative. You’ll go home without any kittens. Which is to say, you’ll be happy in the morning.
In English, we use positive descriptors with positive verbs, and negatives with negatives.
So you can say Both ordinarily name victims or Neither ordinarily names victims. But you can’t say Both do not ordinarily name victims.
What’s really sad about this is that the NFL needs to say ordinarily when talking about naming victims.
