CavemanCharlie wrote:
I didn't know what you meant by that so I looked it up. According to these guys it is OK to say that.
Can't is a negative. Hardly is a negative. That's a double negative.
According to what you cited, then " I can't hardly wait" is the same as "I can hardly wait." I don't know what "soften a negative" means, as your link says. That makes no sense to me. I googled "soften a negative" and in no case was that done using double negatives.
Merriam goes on to say this:
"Use of hardly with a negative verb is a speech form; it is most commonly heard in Southern and Midland speech areas. In other speech areas and in all discursive prose, hardly is normally used with a positive (you can hardly find a red one)."A 'speech form' means that's a regional vernacular, meaning: the way people talk. English does allow that from time to time, but not from a logical perspective. Another speech form would be "I didn't tell nobody", but so far I don't believe that's accepted.
