Maybe over there, but apparently in Europe we don't need the distinction. The only time we hear "negative" is re: comments, films, attitude, etc. or "negative numbers", and a negative number is said "minus two".

I think "Negative" may have become popular in the early 90s when all hands were getting into CB radio (or is that a big "negatory" on that? - c'm'on?

>More commonly it is 'negative two.' I have never heard: three minus minus two (although that would be correct as well), but I have heard three plus two substituted (since that is what the effect is). In math, it is typically stated as three minus negative two.
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>>-2 is: "minus two"
>>3 - -2 is: three minus minus two (or three plus two)
>>
>>>10-2 is: ten minus 2
>>>-2 is: negative two
>>>3 - -2 is: three minus negative two
>>>
>>>I'm not sure where you got your other terms?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>>>>Dragan
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Just heard that "Nasdaq fell two tenths of one percent"... just like it usually does, but they never ever say of which percent are those tenths. Isn't there a promille in English? Obviously not, because spell checker readily underlines it in red. The word means "per thousand" (just like "percent" means "per hundred").
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Yes there is in an equivalent in English, per mill http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=per%20mill
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Now wouldn't it be nice if kids learned this word at school? I wouldn't lose sleep wondering which poor percent lost two of its tenths.
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>I have never heard that word in my life. But what's the problem really? "Two tenths of one percent" seems clear enough to me. "Two tenths of a percent" might make the pedantic a bit happier. A bit.
>>>>
>>>>The "one percent" sounds ridiculous to me. Like "it fell 2/10 of one percent, but not of the others", or "it fell 2/10 of one percent but we won't tell you which one".
>>>>
>>>>Just like the rule that -2 is to be pronounced "two negative". "Minus two" is what I'm used to.