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MrPedantic Posted 19 years ago
Linguistics Studies

A sentence from Salinger



I was probably the tallest person in the whole place – and that isn't saying much.

[Not from The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger]

Q: Why isn't it "saying much", to say "I was probably the tallest person in the whole place"?

A: Because all the other people there were not very tall.


I was probably the only normal b'stard in the whole place – and that isn't saying much.

[from The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger]

Q: Why isn't it "saying much", to say "I was probably the only normal b'stard in the whole place"?

A: —

What answer would you give to this question?

MrP
  

Top answer

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— Milky

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23 Answers
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Indeed.

Any thoughts on the subject, Milky?

MrP
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Holden was six feet two inches tall, but gangly and ugly with it.

Of Norman Mailer:

"He'd tell me I was the nicest woman he'd ever been with. I told him that's not saying much --; I'm just not a junkie or an alcoholic or a prostitute."

Norman wasn't often found in the company of "nice" girls?

Of a computer game:

"Gazza II Better than the original, but
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But he says "I was probably the only normal ******* in the place".
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"This is the most paralyzingly funny exhibition to be seen in New York in quite a while, which unfortunately is not saying much, given the low quotient of wit in the American art world."
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Being tall is normally seen as a positive, often attractive and/or manly, quality. Holden was tall, but not attractive with it. He was gangly. So saying one was the tallest is not much unless one can also profess to being attractive with it.
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MrPedanticBut he says "I was probably the only normal ******* in the place".
“As a matter of fact, I’m the only dumb one in the family” (p. 67).
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Q: Why isn't it "saying much", to say "I was probably the only normal b'stard in the whole place"?

A: —

What answer would you give to this question?
I would answer, "Hunh?" ( )

Compare:

I was the only white person on the bus, and that's not saying much. (Hunh?)
Jerry was the only math major in the Latin class, an
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It doesn't seem to work when there isn't some sort of comparison.

'I was the most normal person in the whole place, and that wasn't saying much' sounds fine to me.

'I was the only normal person in the whole place, and that wasn't saying much' I struggle to make sense of. The only sense I can make is if he is the only person in the place altogether.
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CalifJim


Q: Why isn't it "saying much", to say "I was probably the only normal b'stard in the whole place"?

A: —

What answer would you give to this question?

I would answer, "Hunh?" ( )

CJ

Is it the expression itself that you do not understand?
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