Litotes

__//Litotes//__


 * D** **efinition::** An understatement which uses an affirmative expressed through it's negative.


 * Origin::** from the Greek "//litotēs"//


 * See also::** Meiosis

Definition taken from m-w.com).

"You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear Watson." He uses the negative to affirm the superior timing of Watson's arrival.
 * Examples** from text: In "The Adventure of the Red-Headed League" Holmes says to his partner Watson,

AP