An SAT micro-topic explainer. Free to read — no account needed.
Certain phrases carry a meaning beyond the plain words, and reading them literally leads to the wrong answer. The trick is to replace the phrase with its real meaning, then read the sentence again.
A few common ones: 'anything but X' means not X at all (a test that is 'anything but easy' is very hard); 'all but' means almost (a jar that is 'all but empty' is nearly empty); 'no less than' means at least; and 'by no means' means definitely not.
For example, take the sentence 'Her reaction was anything but calm.' Replace 'anything but calm' with 'not calm at all'. So the sentence tells us she was upset or agitated, the opposite of calm.
Worked examples
A review says a film is 'anything but boring'. What does this mean? 'Anything but X' means not X at all. So the film is far from boring, that is, very interesting.
A sentence says the project is 'all but finished'. What does this mean? 'All but' means almost. So the project is nearly finished.
A report says 'no less than 200 people attended'. What does this mean? 'No less than' means at least. So 200 or more people attended.
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