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Which quote might be perfect one, or any suggestions

  • There's no game in which I haven't won without losing.

  • There's no game in which I haven't won without losing it.

  • There's no game which I haven't won without losing.

  • There's no game which I haven't won without losing it.

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    How about just "There's no game I haven't won without losing"? Eight words and all the facts are in.
    – Robusto
    Jan 25, 2018 at 17:20
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    How about you tell us which you think is right and why. Plus, please note you have posted the same sentences twice.
    – Lambie
    Jan 25, 2018 at 17:26
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    As a "we don't need no education" Brit, I thought I could handle multiple stacked negations, but the truth is I can't figure out what examples #1 and #3 might be intended to mean. And I can only get my head around #2 and #4 by understanding losing it as becoming angry or emotional, which probably isn't what OP has in mind. Jan 25, 2018 at 18:00
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    @Jasen: I suppose the most credible meaning (arrived at mainly by thinking about what would make sense in the real world, not by considering the syntax of the examples) would be My ability to win a game of any given type always involves a learning process where I sometimes lose. Jan 25, 2018 at 18:37
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    yes, we should ask the originator what they are trying to express, only then can a sentence be constructed. @pok8_ what message are you trying to convey?
    – Jasen
    Jan 25, 2018 at 18:47

1 Answer 1

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I would think "theres no game which I havent won without losing. Losing it means losing your mind or indeed get emotional or angry. You participate in a game, I don`t think you win in a game in English.

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    it doesn't always mean that.
    – Jasen
    Jan 25, 2018 at 18:02
  • You're right that native speakers usually win a game (transitive, no preposition), but For example, suppose you're playing a cointoss game in which you win if at any time heads come up. Jan 25, 2018 at 18:07
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    In this case, with "losing it" I'd think you were referring to losing the game, not losing your mind.
    – Zoot
    Jan 25, 2018 at 18:58
  • @Zoot: The problem is that interpretation creates semantic dissonance. The initial reference (there is no game) refers to the game in the abstract - as in Go is a challenging game (game = all games of Go collectively). But in something like The first time I played chess I lost it, we have to understand it as referring to a single instance (one game) of chess, which isn't really the same thing as what it syntactically refers back to. Jan 26, 2018 at 13:59

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