Short of Lemonade

Question

This author was asked to write a root beer review, and I quote:

That's why, when it was suggested that the tasting panel review a soft drink, I seized on root beer. Where else short of lemonade would we be able to find so much variety and homebrew creativity.

what does short of mean in this sense?

MrPernickety · Accepted Answer

"short of" means "except for, other than" in your example

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/short+of

Clive · Answer

Hi,

This author was asked to write a root beer review, and I quote:

That's why, when it was suggested that the tasting panel review a soft drink, I seized on root beer. Where else short of lemonade would we be able to find so much variety and homebrew creativity.

Consider this simpler and more concrete example.

In a race, Mary reached the finish line when Tom was 5 metres behind her.

Physically, Tom was 5 metres short of the finish line, or you could say Tom was 5 meters short of Mary. Tom was 5 metres inferior to Mary, who was the best runner.

The idea in your final sentence is that lemonade is the drink that has the most variety and creativity. Every other drink (including root beer) is short of lemonade.

'Where else short of lemonade . . . ?' is a rhetorical question, 'What drink that is inferior to lemonade would have so much variety and creativity?' The expected answer is 'No other drink'.

It's a fancy way of saying that only lemonade has these qualities.

Root beer is only a good second-best choice.

Best wishes, Clive

Short of Lemonade

That's why, when it was suggested that the tasting panel review a soft drink, I seized on root beer. Where else short of lemonade would we be able to find so much variety and homebrew creativity.

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That's why, when it was suggested that the tasting panel review a soft drink, I seized on root beer. Where else short of lemonade would we be able to find so much variety and homebrew creativity.

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