Litotes
Pattern
Not un-X — double negative as understatement
Definition
Affirming something by negating its opposite, often to create an understatement or ironic emphasis.
Examples
Example 1
He's not the friendliest person I've ever met.
Denying friendliness rather than stating hostility softens the criticism while making the point unmistakable
Example 2
Not bad, not bad at all.
A common litotes that expresses praise through double negation of the negative
Example 3
A nuclear war would be no picnic.
A monumental understatement achieved by denying a trivially inadequate description
AI Detection Note
AI occasionally produces litotes but tends to use it as a hedging mechanism rather than a rhetorical device — the understatement serves caution rather than emphasis.
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