Question
Aggiornato il
sassyxz
11 set 2020

  • Tedesco
  • Inglese (Regno Unito)
  • Olandese
  • Inglese (Stati Uniti)
Domande Inglese (Regno Unito)

What exactly does “anything but...” mean? I always thought it meant “anything except...” but now I have read some sentences where it wouldn’t make any sense at all.

Risposte
Leggi ulteriori commenti
ladybug
11 set 2020

  • Inglese (Regno Unito)
  • Inglese (Stati Uniti)

Give an example.

0 likes
Utente esperto
BluePeter
11 set 2020

  • Inglese (Regno Unito)

Q - Do you want to go to the cinema tonight?
A - Anything but! (which means I’ll do anything except go to the cinema)

Please post the sentences you are referring to and we can see what your concern actually is, because it appears your understanding is sound.

0 likes
Utente esperto
sassyxz
12 set 2020

  • Tedesco
@BluePeter Thank you. The sentences I struggled with were in a novel I recently read. Unfortunately I don’t find there exact sentences anymore... But now I guess that the author simply liked being sarcastic at some points since you agreed with what I thought was the original meaning.
But if I remember correctly it went somehow like: “Documents lay all across her desk. She was anything but messy.” So I thought it might mean “especially” in this context.
0 likes
BluePeter
12 set 2020

  • Inglese (Regno Unito)

@sassyxz
There are several possibilities.
First, I might suggest that all these documents lying on her desk were neatly arranged and therefore the comment about her not being messy.
Alternatively, not knowing what type of novel this is or the specific context, perhaps it means that she is not normally messy but there was something odd in this particular instance. For example, if it were a detective type novel, we could surmise that the documents were left in an unusually messy state for the woman in question, which raised suspicions. Maybe someone else had messed up things on her desk or maybe she had just got herself in a twist over something in her life which altered her normal behaviour.
Sorry, but without seeing or learning more about the context it is difficult to be more precise. Hope this helps, but if not, at least you know that your understanding of the construction “anything but” is correct!
You have me intrigued now, I have to admit. Don’t leave your readers dangling!

0 likes
Utente esperto
[Novità] Ehi tu! Dico a te che stai imparando una lingua!

Sai come migliorare le tue abilità linguistiche❓ Basta far correggere ciò che scrivi da un madrelingua!
Con HiNative, puoi ricevere correzioni su ciò che scrivi da utenti madrelingua gratis ✍️✨.
Registrazione
Condividi questa domanda
What exactly does “anything but...” mean? I always thought it meant “anything except...” but now I have read some sentences where it wouldn’t make any sense at all.
domande simili
domande simili
Domande suggerite
Newest Questions (HOT)
Domande Recenti
Domanda precedente/successiva

Fai domande a utenti madrelingua gratis

Registrati gratis
hinative app preview balloon background image flying monga
  1. HiNative
  2. S
  3. Se
  4. Sentence
  5. What exactly does “anyt...