Would you use a "double that"?

Here's the sentence:

It’s fun to have fast food occasionally. It feels as being a kid in the middle of mischief, knowing that kind of food is not healthy, but having it anyway.

Thanks.

 

what do you mean by 'double that'?

 

He means (I think) whether it should be:

"It’s fun to have fast food occasionally. It feels as being a kid in the middle of mischief, knowing that kind of food is not healthy, but having it anyway."

or

"It’s fun to have fast food occasionally. It feels as being a kid in the middle of mischief, knowing that that kind of food is not healthy, but having it anyway."

I'm not sure which is technically correct, but I'd personally opt for the second. At first glance, it looks a little clumsier, but I think it makes the sentence clearer.

 

thank you Banzai
I would have thought it would be like this:

It’s fun to have fast food occasionally. It feels like a kid in the middle of mischief, knowing THIS kind of food is not healthy, but having it anyway."

would sound better and so no ''double that''.

 

I'd use a double that, yes. But not in this case.

 

where would you use it?

 

Whenever I write a sentence with a double "that" or another word that is the same back to back, I think of a knew way to write it.

Example:

Sally said we should shoot the bird with a shotgun. I explained that that was a good idea.

That is grammatically correct, but sounds clunky to me.

Sally said we should shoot the bird with a shotgun. I explained that this was a good idea.

I explained using a shotgun was a good idea.

 

i'd always find a better way to say it than doubling up on 'that'...

 

Here's one more "double that" sentence. Suggestions?

Moreover, if he hadn’t asked to return to work, they would have not been faced with the decision, unaware that that would have resulted in losing all his unemployment benefits (around nine thousand dollars).

Thank you!

 

Moreover, if he hadn’t asked to return to work, they would have not been faced with the decision, unaware that it would have resulted in losing all his unemployment benefits (around nine thousand dollars).

 

I tend to try and avoid the "that that" situation where possible. If I can rewrite to be rid of it, I will.

 

I gave her her comeuppance that that was enough, and that I had had enough of that.

Whee this is fun!

 

post came up double after I edited it...

 

Don't understand what you mean by 'feels as being'. Do mean 'feels as though you are' or 'feels like being'? And ditto maia, I would reword to avoid 'that' repeated (not keen on the repetition of 'food', either):
knowing it is not healthy
or
knowing that such food is not healthy
or
knowing that/such food is not healthy
I don't like the repeated '-ing's either, so I'd reword to get rid of them as well, most probably:
It’s fun to have fast food occasionally. It's like being a mischievous kid--although you know such food is unhealthy, you go ahead and eat it.

 

i have to ditto all of that, that madhoca has said!

 

The use of "that" denoting the fact of the following clause is unnecessary, even if the following clause does not begin with "that".

For example, "He knew he was in trouble." is preferred over "He knew that he was in trouble."

The "that" in the sentence does nothing constructive.

 

It depends on the voice of the person saying it. In normal speech I would say "knowing that that kind of food...", but some of my characters wouldn't. In narrative I would consider rephrasing, but I wouldn't obsessively eliminate them all.

 

Not so in formal British English, although there does seem to be a gradual drift over to that position for informal use. If I wrote a sentence like "He knew he was in trouble" at work there is no way I would get the document approved for release without adding the "that".