What does ...なくはない mean?


Initial searching in Japanese-Japanese dictionaries seem to suggest that it's
along the lines of "has a bit of ..., so saying otherwise would be wrong",
"more so than not", and is a synonym to ないわけではない (though I personally don't
really understand ないわけではない either).

Am I understanding it correctly? What would be an accurate and/or good way
(these might not be the same) to translate it to English when it's part of a
sentence, or is it something that's heavily context-dependent? Would it be
something like "it's not that [negative clause]"?

While I do have a [specific example](http://sai-zen-
sen.jp/comics/twi4/tomochan/works/0294.jpg) of it being used that I'm
interested in, I'm also interested in the general case.

P.S., A fan translation of that example translated it as "Unfortunately yes".
Is this a good translation? Does the expression itself convey the
exasperation, or is it simply in the tone it's said?




As far as I'm aware, なくはない is a double negative with the meaning being
something like, "it's not that (whatever was said) is not the case" with the
implication "(whatever was said) may be true, but there is some issue with
plainly stating 'yes.'" So I guess "not no" is a good way to think about it.

I personally wouldn't have translated that as "unfortunately, yes." I might
have gone with something like, "it's not like he can't do it." In this case
she happens to be exasperated because of her relationship with the character
in question (I happen to have read this manga), but the phrase isn't
specifically tailored for exasperation.




As far as I'm aware, なくはない is a double negative with the meaning being
something like, "it's not that (whatever was said) is not the case" with the
implication "(whatever was said) may be true, but there is some issue with
plainly stating 'yes.'" So I guess "not no" is a good way to think about it.

I personally wouldn't have translated that as "unfortunately, yes." I might
have gone with something like, "it's not like he can't do it." In this case
she happens to be exasperated because of her relationship with the character
in question (I happen to have read this manga), but the phrase isn't
specifically tailored for exasperation.

