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Came up in the office this week...

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September 14, 2015, 00:39
BobHale
Came 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?


"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
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
Kalleh
I interpret something like Proof, though I think in both cases he might be the greatest.
September 15, 2015, 23:56
arnie
Agreed - He might be the greatest but it's difficult to make comparisons.


Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.