I’ll give a very literal example joke demonstrating how this used to function.
NOBODY:
ME: Yes, I did get a haircut. Thank you for asking.
See, nobody asked, but the speaker was still compelled to share this fact (or in other cases, an opinion). Over time, it became such a common format that people didn’t even grasp the initial purpose beyond it being convention. The term “POV” in captions is used this way now too.
This meme format always annoys me because of the double negative. If “nobody” says nothing, then surely everyone says something.
Having said that, my native language uses double negative, for example “nobody said nothing” does mean that nobody said anything, but for some reason in the way the meme presents it and English language, it does not work for me.
I’ll give a very literal example joke demonstrating how this used to function.
NOBODY:
ME: Yes, I did get a haircut. Thank you for asking.
See, nobody asked, but the speaker was still compelled to share this fact (or in other cases, an opinion). Over time, it became such a common format that people didn’t even grasp the initial purpose beyond it being convention. The term “POV” in captions is used this way now too.
Doesn’t 'NOBODY: ’ imply that nobody was quiet? Kind of a double negative…
This meme format always annoys me because of the double negative. If “nobody” says nothing, then surely everyone says something.
Having said that, my native language uses double negative, for example “nobody said nothing” does mean that nobody said anything, but for some reason in the way the meme presents it and English language, it does not work for me.