Few ~ other than
Hi teachers!
My friend asked me what the sentence below exactly means. Actually my friend thinks it means 'most people assert that the influence is not disastrous' while I believe it implies 'most people say the influence is disastrous'.
Can you please make it clear?
"Few would assert that its influence has been other than disastrous."
Many thanks in advance.
Top answer
" This is called understatement. It is a delicate way of saying that most think that its influence has been disastrous. The two negatives make it tricky.
- " This is called understatement.
- It is a delicate way of saying that most think that its influence has been disastrous.
- The two negatives make it tricky.
- —anything but disastrous.
- If you assert that its influence has been one of those, you are among the few.
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Michelle Cha"Few would assert that its influence has been other than disastrous."
This is called understatement. It is a delicate way of saying that most think that its influence has been disastrous.
The two negatives make it tricky. "Other than disatrous" means "not disastrous"—beneficial, imperceptible, weak, etc.—anything but disastrous. If you ass
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