English Café: “I don’t know nothing.” Is this sentence correct?

Advanced Details: “I don’t know nothing.” Is this sentence correct?

No, it’s not correct. English has that pesky double negative problem. This means that when you use two negative words, such as don’t and nothing, in the same sentence, they can be taken as a positive in combination; two negatives make a positive. Therefore, we must write:

• I don’t know anything. or
• I know nothing. which correctly state your idea in English.

Why is “I don’t know nothing” wrong? “I do not know nothing” employs a double negative which technically reverses the negative statement into a positive one.