I'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 "literall

I'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.