I just saw this image from Apple’s introduction of the new iPhone:
Notice the wording: I understand that this action cannot be undone or cancelled [ed: British spelling, huh].
Does that mean it can be done? Not a huge deal but the double negative slowed me down for a second. Not a place where there should be any confusion! Off-topic, I just got a Palm Pre this weekend and love it!

{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting. This warning has appeared in Mac OS for years, and I have never heard anyone remark on it. Since “Undo” is a command on many Mac applications, the statement “This cannot be undone” has always seemed straightforward to me. I’d be interested to know if others have been confused by it.
Yes, and humorously, after I posted this I started seeing those words EVERYWHERE (recently in Firefox). Until you mentioned it, I didn’t connect “undone” to the Undo command but that makes sense. Before I posted this item I did some cursory Googling and found this professional photographer who also had a big problem with this particular wording in Adobe Lightroom. I think he best stated my beef with the wording:
This is interesting. The wording does make sense to me. It is a warning that if you continue what you are doing, you cannot undo it later if you change your mind. So, if you delete the file, you cannot undelete it. If you change a particular setting, you cannot click a button to go back to the original setting. It is supposed to be an indicator that you should stop and really think about what you are doing and be sure you want to do it before you continue. What wording would make more sense to you?
“I understand that this action cannot be reversed or cancelled”
“I understand that I cannot undo or cancel this action” This is probably better because it avoids the passive voice.
Never had a problem with the wording. In fact I quite like it. Shakespeare innit.