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English 1b3 Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

'not least' (of which)

Sam has many great qualities, not the least of which is his quirky sense of humour.

Mike does many things wrong at the dinner table, not the least of which is that he rests his elbows on the table.

I believe the above two are correct uses of 'not least.' Below, however, is new to me. Can some explain its use here? Is it just a reduced form of 'not least of which is'?

The drawbacks to development, not least that the development is exceedingly time-consuming, ...

Thanks
  

Top answer

" would work better. )

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3 Answers
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Perhaps "not the least being that..." would work better.

(I'm glad I don't have to dine with someone who considers the elbows things a grievous offense.)
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Hi,

It seems to me to be pretty non-standard.



I think it would likely be written by someone who didn't even consider using 'not the least of which is . . . '

If the writer didn't consider the full phrase, can you call this a reduced phrase?
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English 1b3Can someone explain its use here? Is it just a reduced form of 'not the least of which is'?
Sure. Why not? It's not a separate expression with a radically different grammar. What other sort of explanation is really needed?
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