Be Careful

Was on the way home, when I saw this poster at the LRT station.

"You cannot be sure he is not a molester"

Which seems at first glance to be a perfectly fine poster targeted at children warning them to be careful of strangers.

But then again, there's a double negative, which is not exactly really easy for children to understand. Then again, kids nowadays are damn smart. They may not be able to spell properly, but they sure as hell know how to use computers and the funny programs on your DVD player.

Lets consult that all-knowing repository of knowledge.

"Litotes is a rhetorical device which uses double negation to emphasise a statement. By denying its opposite, the double negation cancels itself out and resolves to a positive..."

Essentially, 2 negatives cancel out to a positive and thus:

"You cannot be sure he is not a molester"

So each person you don't know is a molester?

Uh oh... looks like I gotta start being more friendly in the daily commute to work. Gotta know more people so less people think I is a molester okie.

Not that anyone would.

Rabbits are harmless creatures =)