September 14, 2015, 00:39
BobHaleCame up in the office this week...
In this sentence
"He is a great, if not the greatest, quarterback."
does "if not the greatest" mean that he might be the greatest or that he definitely isn't the greatest?
And what about this sentence
"He is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, quarterbacks of all time."
How would you interpret it?
September 14, 2015, 05:38
<Proofreader>If he's not the first, he's at least in the top ten.
September 15, 2015, 21:10
KallehI interpret something like Proof, though I think in both cases he
might be the greatest.
September 15, 2015, 23:56
arnieAgreed - He might be the greatest but it's difficult to make comparisons.