"Chris Croughton" <chris@keristor.net> wrote ...
> Lion <Nospam@com.sg> wrote:
>
>> Pardon my ignorance. What's the meaning of 'what's with' in this
>> context.
>> When written in full, what do these two words stand for ?
>
> It's an American colloqialism, an idiom which doesn't make much sense
> literally. "What is the situation regarding ..." might be a more full
> translation of it in this case. In some others it's a contraction of
> "What is happening with ...", as in "What's with the picnic on
> Saturday?"
>
> So what the poster meant in this case was something like:
>
> "What is the situation regarding the use of the double negative in
> English?"
>
> It's an idiom which has, via television and other media, made its way
> into English as well, unfortunately...
Interesting. Many thanks.
By the way, looking back at what I've written, is it more correct for me to
write "When written out in full ..."?
Lion
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