At all is simply an intensifying additional element without any inherent grammatical purpose, and is found in other contexts too, not just in the expression 'nothing at all': Do you listen to what I …

If you substitute ‘nothing but’, you get a very different (and odd) sentence: “How can B mean nothing but A?” is quite strange. “How can B mean anything but A?” is exactly what you would …

26 Feabh 2014 · Is the meaning of the phrase "Not for nothing" literal, or idiomatic, and if idiomatic, what does the idiom mean? If you have a reference more reliable than urban …

4 It is widely accepted that the others are all variations of F**ck All. It is further thought that F**k All is in fact a misunderstanding of the phrase 'sweet F.A.', meaning 'nothing at all'. The story: …

16 Ean 2019 · Saying "Nothing is compared with the Egyptian pyramids" or "Nothing is compared to the Egyptian pyramids" implies that no one has ever done such a comparison. Eg, no one has …

13 Lún 2014 · Perhaps this word encompasses more than what you're looking for; but consider that anything without a beginning was never created and, hence, required nothing for it's …

17 Ean 2024 · In addition to basking in the warmth of the covers, you can bask in the quiet of the morning, knowing that when you get out of bed and start taking creaking steps on the stairs …

13 Samh 2011 · 2 There can not be a word for the act of intending to do nothing, an intention to act is implicit, and to act is to not do nothing, even if the result of that act is nothing. It is …

The meaning of "all but" is "everything, except", or "almost". Therefore, "all but defenseless" means "everything except defenseless" or "almost defenseless". Similarly, the meaning of "none but" is …

It may sound odd to a non-native speaker, that little means nothing at all, but it is a very specific idiom used in a slightly dramatic sense, to convey that a vital piece of information was not …