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Usenet Posted 19 years ago
Learning
All but...
Hi all,
What exactly (well, if there is an 'exact' is appropriate in this context) does the proverb "all but ..." mean? I recently noticed that it is often used in a way which seems unintuitive (not to say incorrect) to me. For instance I'm reading the following paragraph (Judea Perl, "Causality"):
" According to the founding fathers of SEM, the conditions that make the equation y=bx+e structural are precisely those that make the causal rconnection between X and Y have no other value but b and ensure that nothing about the statistical relationship between x and e can ever change this interpretation of b. Amazingly, this basic understanding of SEM has all but disappeared from the literature, leaving modern econometricians and social scientists in a quandary over b."
Here in the last sentence "all but.." is used in apparently to imply that in fact the subject of the sentence ('this basic understanding') did disappear from the literature, whereas I always assumed that the meaning of "all but..." would be that "whatever happend to it, it certainly did not disappear from the literature!" that is, I would interpret it as "everything except...". Perhaps this is due to the Dutch construct "alles behalve..." which would literally translate in English "all except..." and according to my dictionary also could be literally translated "all but...".
Anyone with an answer?
Cheers,
Raoul
What exactly (well, if there is an 'exact' is appropriate in this context) does the proverb "all but ..." mean? I recently noticed that it is often used in a way which seems unintuitive (not to say incorrect) to me. For instance I'm reading the following paragraph (Judea Perl, "Causality"):
" According to the founding fathers of SEM, the conditions that make the equation y=bx+e structural are precisely those that make the causal rconnection between X and Y have no other value but b and ensure that nothing about the statistical relationship between x and e can ever change this interpretation of b. Amazingly, this basic understanding of SEM has all but disappeared from the literature, leaving modern econometricians and social scientists in a quandary over b."
Here in the last sentence "all but.." is used in apparently to imply that in fact the subject of the sentence ('this basic understanding') did disappear from the literature, whereas I always assumed that the meaning of "all but..." would be that "whatever happend to it, it certainly did not disappear from the literature!" that is, I would interpret it as "everything except...". Perhaps this is due to the Dutch construct "alles behalve..." which would literally translate in English "all except..." and according to my dictionary also could be literally translated "all but...".
Anyone with an answer?
Cheers,
Raoul
Top answer
U¿ytkownik "Raoul" (Email Removed) napisa³ w wiadomo¶ci [nq:1]and e can ever change this interpretation of b. Amazingly, this basic understanding of SEM has all but disappeared from ... " that is, I would[/nq] There are two apparently similar English expressions with very different meanings.
- U¿ytkownik "Raoul" (Email Removed) napisa³ w wiadomo¶ci [nq:1]and e can ever change this interpretation of b.
- Amazingly, this basic understanding of SEM has all but disappeared from ...
- " that is, I would[/nq] There are two apparently similar English expressions with very different meanings.
- "All but X" means "all possible values very close to X, except precisely X".
- So "all but disappeared" means it has become infrequent, rare, obsolete, avoided, superseded, etc etc, but we cannot actually say that it disappeared because once in a gazillion years it still does get mentioned in some obscure piece of published work.
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4 Answers
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U¿ytkownik "Raoul" (Email Removed) napisa³ w wiadomo¶ci
[nq:1]and e can ever change this interpretation of b. Amazingly, this basic understanding of SEM has all but disappeared from ... "all but..." would be that "whatever happend to it, it certainly did not disappear from the literature!" that is, I would[/nq]
There are two apparently similar English expressions with very different meani
[nq:1]and e can ever change this interpretation of b. Amazingly, this basic understanding of SEM has all but disappeared from ... "all but..." would be that "whatever happend to it, it certainly did not disappear from the literature!" that is, I would[/nq]
There are two apparently similar English expressions with very different meani
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[nq:1]There are two apparently similar English expressions with very different meanings. "All but X" means "all possible values very close ... was anything but friendly: upon seing us, the residents opened fire with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades". Hope this helps, Leszek.[/nq]
Thanks, that certainly helps, but is my impression correct that "all but.." is sometimes used in the sense of
Thanks, that certainly helps, but is my impression correct that "all but.." is sometimes used in the sense of
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U¿ytkownik "Raoul" (Email Removed) napisa³ w wiadomo¶ci
[nq:1]Thanks, that certainly helps, but is my impression correct that "all but.." is sometimes used in the sense of "anything but.."? And is such[/nq]
I am not aware of such usage, but then I am not a native speaker of either British or American English. I am looking forward to learning from others - Einde?
Cheers,
L.
[nq:1]Thanks, that certainly helps, but is my impression correct that "all but.." is sometimes used in the sense of "anything but.."? And is such[/nq]
I am not aware of such usage, but then I am not a native speaker of either British or American English. I am looking forward to learning from others - Einde?
Cheers,
L.
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Raoul schrieb:
[nq:2]There are two apparently similar English expressions with very different ... fire with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades". Hope this helps, Leszek.[/nq]
[nq:1]Thanks, that certainly helps, but is my impression correct that "all but.." is sometimes used in the sense of "anything ... second meaning you mentioned). It also tells me that "All but..." and "Anything but.
[nq:2]There are two apparently similar English expressions with very different ... fire with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades". Hope this helps, Leszek.[/nq]
[nq:1]Thanks, that certainly helps, but is my impression correct that "all but.." is sometimes used in the sense of "anything ... second meaning you mentioned). It also tells me that "All but..." and "Anything but.
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