She didn't mean to be exotic, though, if only because in Russia a name with a Tatar overtone meets not curiosity but prejudice?

Question

A sentence under the pen of a famous man of letters: She didn't mean to be exotic, though, if only because in Russia a name with a Tatar overtone meets not curiosity but prejudice?

In English, IF ONLY is used to say that you wish something was true or that something had happened

eg If only I knew her name.
eg If only he'd remembered to send that letter.
eg The pills might have helped him, if only he'd taken them regularly.

But this meaning does not suit in the above sentence; what does IF ONLY mean in that case?

Fivejedjon · Accepted Answer

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Johnson13 · Answer

Thanks. In fact, I'd read that post.

In that post, Clive says IF ONLY BECAUSE means at least for one reason; in other words, casually speaking IF ONLY BECAUSE can mean BECAUSE simply. But it's illogical.

In the sentence I gave: She didn't mean to be exotic, though, if only because in Russia a name with a Tatar overtone meets not curiosity but prejudice?

according to Clive's explanation, it means 'because in Russia a name with a Tatar overtone meets not curiosity but prejudice', so the logical fact we can infer should be, SHE sensibly does use this name which will bring her prejudice. But the fact is, this SHE, ie Anna Gorenko, adopts exactly the Tatar-reminding name Akhmatova. Clearly Clive's answer does not stand here.

I think there are other meaning for that phrase, but even after dictionaries and guesswork, I can't work out the meaning.

Could anyone help me?

Johnson13 · Answer

A sentence under the pen (?if not idiomatic, please tell me, because this phrase sounds Chinese)of the same writer: No one absorbs the past as thoroughly as a poet, if only out of fear of inventing the already invented.

In this sentence, does IF ONLY mean PROBABLY?; can this meaning apply to my example in the first post?

Fivejedjon · Answer

Johnson13according to Clive's explanation, it means 'because in Russia a name with a Tatar overtone meets not curiosity but prejudice', so the logical fact we can infer should be, SHE sensibly does use this name which will bring her prejudice. But the fact is, this SHE, ie Anna Gorenko, adopts exactly the Tatar-reminding name Akhmatova. Clearly Clive's answer does not stand here.

No. The logical inference is that she does not use this name. If she does use it, then your original sentence makes sense only is the 'mean' (= 'intend') is stressed.

Johnson13 · Answer

Thanks. What do you think about my previous post about the meaning of IF ONLY?

Here comes a sentence under the pen of the same prize-winning writer:

For art doesn't imitate life if only for fear of cliches.

She didn't mean to be exotic, though, if only because in Russia a name with a Tatar overtone meets not curiosity but prejudice?

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