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Show Matter of Emphasis. If a man wishes to give nbsolute emphasis em-phasis to a negative he is quite likely to say. "No, a thousand times no." What he really means is that his negative nega-tive resolution is so firm that he would be willing to repeat it an indefinite number of times. So far as his meaning mean-ing is concerned he might as well say, "a million times, no." But only a man of some habitual violence of speech would say this. It gives an impression of wild extravagance. "Thousand," while being comparatively mod, rate, somehow seems more forceful. |