[openbeos] OT: "all but..." the English language
- From: Charlie Clark <charlie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 04 Sep 2002 18:08:10 +0000
On 2002-09-04 at 15:37:51 [+0000], you wrote:
> Well, I may be wrong as english is not my native language, but wouldn't
> "all but completed" imply "not completed" ? Or, in other words, It
> would be in any state *BUT* the state it is now (i.e. completed).
If I can clarify this: you are nearly but not quite right.
"But" in this sentence actually means "except" or actually "but not".
Natural languages aren't logical!
all/everything/anything except completed
so it would be anything at all but not completed.
nothing but complete is, of course, the inverse
This is equivalent to "Alles außer" in German or "tout sauf" in French or
"tutti tranne" in Italian illustrating a construction common to most
European languages.
Charlie
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Charlie Clark
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