What does "don't be taking nothing off no man" mean? [duplicate]

I'm reading Gone With The Wind.

When the son left his homeland for America, his father told him:

Remember who ye are and don't be taking nothing off no man.

I can't understand it at all; could someone explain it to me?


The phrasing is both archaic and colloquial.

Remember who ye are

In Modern Standard English, we would say, "Remember who you are." This is hopefully not very hard to interpret -- Don't lose your identity (perhaps as a person of character or as an Irishman.)

and don't be taking nothing off no man.

To de-coloquialize this, we would say, "and don't take anything off any man".

In The Construction of Irish Identity in American Literature, Christopher Dowd explains the quote you provided as follows:

This single piece of advice gives structure to Gerald's future as an Irish American, prompting him to never forget his heritage and to never accept the insinuation that he is inferior.

Dowd's understanding, I think, then is that "take anything" means "take any gruff" or "take any shit" -- don't permit disrespectful gestures.

I myself would have read it as meaning "don't take anything from anyone", and as an admonition not to accept charity.