Learn English – What does “We don’t need no education” mean

multiple-negationnegation

I am an english learner.
I general ( or may be I am wrong ) we use:
any in both negative and positive sentences. for example: I don't need any education
no in positive phrases ( may be I am wrong ). for example: I need no education

But in We don't need no education sentence, there is Don't and No in phrase. which I can't understand the meaning of it.
what does it mean?

  1. We do not need any education?
  2. We DO need education and ( don't want any illiterate !! )

Thanks. And sorry if my english is still too bad. I hope you understand what I asked 🙂

Best Answer

You are right that it is not gramatically correct, but certainly in British English it is quite commonly used. It is a double negative, which if we would take literally would mean a positive. But in fact we don't take it literally, and the meaning which it still conveys is

We don't need any education

I would argue that the reason it is used in the Pink Floyd song, is for irony. This is because using no instead of any in a sentence like this, is considered to be something someone uneducated would do. You certainly wouldn't hear the Queen saying it like this!

Also, maybe the single-syllabled "no" just works better for the rhythm than "any".

Not obeying the rules of grammar, in some circles, makes one appear outrageously cool and hip to one's peers. In civilised England however, we recognise that speaking and writing grammatically is more important than anything else in the world.

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