Several times in the past few days I've seen the construct "SUBJECT wasn't ADJECTIVE1, let alone ADJECTIVE2," and while that's a handy phrasing there's something about it that keeps bugging me, to whit:
The way I've always used it is with the more extreme adjective or verb last: "The joke wasn't funny, let alone hilarious."
The way I've seen it used is the other way around: "The joke wasn't hilarious, let alone funny."
Now, as far as I can see, this makes no sense, but that could just be a matter of habitual interpretation... what do you mob say?
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
A kung-fu nun in a leather thong was no less extreme than anything else he had seen that day. - Rev. Dark's IST: Holy Sea World
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
The 2nd sentence seems to imply that the joke didn't even meet the minimum standard, not the belly shaker that it was supposed to be, so it does make sense.
The first sentence seemed to be more sarcastic tone to it.
The 2nd one...more derogatory, since it goes "downhill".
Either one would work, it depends on what the objective is.
__________________
Into terror!, Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell
You know, this is one that I've pondered myself. The version I've heard far more often, and which I've come to regard as the "correct" way to use the structure, is the first -- "The wasn't even , let alone ". The other way strikes me as wrong, but I'll admit to having had to sit and think about it for a while to be sure.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...
I think I might have gotten it - the second phrasing is more like "The subject wasn't exceptoinal, even saying it met the minimum was a stretch." Then again, if someone has to think about something for a couple of days to figure out what the way it was worded meant (rather than the actual subject of the wording), that probably means it needs another editing pass.
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
A kung-fu nun in a leather thong was no less extreme than anything else he had seen that day. - Rev. Dark's IST: Holy Sea World
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows
I always thought that it was the first version and that the second one didn't make any sense.
Saying that something isn't "A let alone A+" makes sense when not being A+ is implied in not even being A. Of course it can get confusing when the reader or author isn't quite clear from which end of the spectrum the whole thing gets approached.
Paul Brians on his
Common Errors in English site writes the following:
Quote:
I cant remember the title of the book we were supposed to read, let alone the details of the story. In sentences like these you give a lesser example of something first, followed by let alone and then the greater example. But people often get this backwards, and put the greater example first.
The same pattern is followed when the expression is much less: I cant change the oil in my car, much less tune the engine. The speaker can much less well tune the engine than he or she can change the oil.
Another common expression which follows the same pattern uses never mind, as in I cant afford to build a tool shed, never mind a new house.
See also little own.
Mmm. Good site. Thanks for the link!
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...