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“All but Z” basically means “approaching but not equal to Z”, like the range (-infinity, Z). So when X is “literally every X” it means “approaching “literally e
by bobbylarrybobby 4y ago
“All but Z” basically means “approaching but not equal to Z”, like the range (-infinity, Z). So when X is “literally every X” it means “approaching “literally every X”, but not quite “literally every X””
Personally I’ve never been a fan of “all but Z” as a phrase — I prefer “[very] nearly Z”.
- bruce343434 4y agoNon native: I always read it as “everything except for z”. I’m trying to build an autocorrect for “all but” into “almost” in my brain.
- kd5bjo 4y agoAs a native speaker, I interpret it the same way as you. The most common usage of this form is probably the idiom “It’s all over but the shouting,” meaning a foregone conclusion that still has some steps to go through before it becomes official. Historically, this phrase comes from electioneering where there is only one viable candidate standing for office: The competition is practically completed, but the actual voting (the ‘shouting’) has not yet occurred to ratify this result.
- wccrawford 4y agoI'm not sure why you're being downvoted for what's probably the best explanation here of how to parse that phrase. It's extra tortured because of the "literally", and the original "all but" is an odd phrase to start with, but in the end I knew exactly what it mean and didn't even blink at it.