Double negative would have found a more flattering way to say so. Instead, some kind of problem is implied, though Mr. Jones possesses basic competence at his tasks. Discussing English grammar, the term "double negative" is often though not universally applied to the non-standard use of a second negative as an intensifier to a negation. Double negatives are usually associated with regional and ethnical dialects such as Southern American English, African American Vernacular English, and various British regional dialects. Indeed, they were used in Middle English. Historically, Chaucer made extensive use of double, triple, and even quadruple negatives in his "Canterbury Tales".
Owned-and-operated television stations in the United States opened up a new spectrum of frequencies on the UHF dial (channels 14–83) for terrestrial television. As an incentive for companies to operate UHF stations, the FCC relaxed the ownership limit for a given entity from five to seven stations, provided that no more than five were on the VHF dial. With this opportunity to expand its roster of O&Os, NBC bought WBUF-TV (channel 17) in Buffalo in 1955 and WKNB-TV (channel 30) in New Britain, Connecticut (near Hartford) in 1957, and changed WKNB's call letters to WNBC-TV (the present-day WNBC in New York City used the WRCA-TV callsign from