"I give nothing to no-one" or "I do not give anything to anyone"

Question

I have a bit of an issue with negations. Are the following correct?

I do not give anything to anyone //I guess this is correct
I give nothing to no-one //can I say that?

Generally, is it the same to use these two statements? e.g.:
This humour does not hurt anyone.
This humour hurts nobody. //is this acceptable?

I do not know whether there is any difference or not.

FumbleFingers · Accepted Answer

The only existing answer is at best misleading.

"I do not give anything to anyone" is standard English
"I give nothing to no-one" is a double negative - not uncommon, but considered "non-standard".
"This humour doesn't hurt anyone" is standard English.
"This humour hurts nobody" is standard English.

Note that the only "non-standard" variant above is easily recast to full acceptability:

"I give nothing to anyone" is standard English.

There's no difference in meaning whether the negation is applied to the verb (give/do not give, hurts/doesn't hurt) or to the object (anything/nothing, anyone/nobody).

Spillingwell · Answer

To say 'I give nothing to no one' is to say, 'there's no one I don't give something to', or in other words, if you give nothing to no one, you give something to everyone.

"I give nothing to no-one" or "I do not give anything to anyone"

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