80148
Let's take the following situation as an example: After having driven a car
for 20 years without any problems, someone is one day involved in a horrible
car crash. They then might think to themselves:「もう二度と運転しない。」

If we take the 二度と literally, the drive where the crash occurred would be
counted as the "first" time driving, and the hypothetical next drive after the
crash would be the "second" time driving.

Here's my question: If we change the example in such a way that the person is
not directly involved in the crash anymore but instead just witnesses it while
walking nearby, could that person still say 「もう二度と運転しない。」? What I'm getting at
is that there would be no clear cut "first time" to base that "second time" on
because the person wasn't driving at the time of the crash and surely in 20
years, that person has driven more than just once.

Or am I overthinking all of this and it's just a fixed expression that
shouldn't be taken literally?
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2020-08-14T13:38:04.373
80135
2020-08-14T23:08:47.573
33212
question
expressions
Can 二度と～ない be taken literally?
Yes, I think you're overthinking. 二度と～しない is a fixed expression that means
"never do ～ again", and people who say this don't think about which event is
counted as the first or the second. Saying もう二度と運転しない is fine regardless of
whether the speaker was directly involved in an accident. We never say 三度としない
anyway.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-14T23:08:47.573
80148
2020-08-14T23:08:47.573
5010
80135
answer