A TV advertisement for a well know nostrum says:
"Nothing is better that XYZ"
- Does this mean that XYZ isn’t worth a flip?
or - Does it mean that XYZ is the best there is?
Explain your answer.
Common idiom: #2.
Stictly verbal: #1
Explain the Mexican phrase: Major que nada. (sp?) which translates directly to “better than nothing” but bears a superlative meaning. Same thing.
A bunch of language is context.
If “that” in the OP’s quote was supposed to be “than,” then Inigo Montoya is correct. Except that by “verbal” he meant to say “literal.” And it’s rarely, if ever, used that way.
This reminds me of “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”
Is a mind a “terrible thing”, whose purpose is to be wasted?
IMO the saying should be “The wasting of a mind is a terrible thing.”
I disagree. I’d say everyone uses it to mean (2). Literally it can mean either (1) or (2); it’s not clear. Suppose we change it slightly to be: “Nobody is taller than XYZ” This could mean XYZ is the tallest person or something called “nobody” is taller than XYZ. The latter though literally possible doesn’t really make sense. I think everyone would agree the former is the literal meaning. Why should the original question have a different answer that (2) can’t be a literal meaning
CORRECTED STATEMENT :smack:
"Nothing is better than XYZ"
My simple brain doesn’t “get” #1.
If nothing is better than XYZ, then isn’t XYZ the best there is…because there’s nothing better?
I always remembered an exercise in logic given us by my 5th grade math teacher:
The problem is that we use “nothing is better than” idiomatically to mean “there is nothing better than”.
I’m still trying to figure out the one-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater.
That question was answered in 1988’s answer to Citizen Kane - Purple People Eater.
He has one eye, one horn, and flies, though he apparently doesn’t eat people.
All I know is, in a relationship, when it becomes better than nothing, it isn’t.
Could this be an ad for a homeopathic remedy? 
Think of it this way. It could be taken to mean XYZ is so bad that having nothing at all is better than having XYZ. Even nothing is better than XYZ.
As Inigo says, ‘nothing is better than XYZ’ is a common idiom meaning ‘XYZ is the best’. While if you take it literally, it means XYZ is harmful.
Since it’s an paid advertisement for XYZ, clearly the idiom is intended.
The clearest way to give a warning is to say ‘XYZ is worse than nothing’.
English is full of this non-literal stuff, to help make the language interesting:
- running late, John flew to his next appointment
- John had the heart of a lion
- Love is blind
For your amusement:
Pratchett’s city despot (Lord Vetinari), at the end of meetings “Do not let me detain you”
His philosophy on elections - Lord Vetinari liked democracy. One man, one vote. Lord Vetinari was that man and he had the vote.
Time flies like an arrow.
Fruit flies like a banana.
And to finish … ‘if you eat it you die!’ What sort of poison is this? Answer: Nothing.
I’m very fond of that one; As I recall, there are something like seven different plausible meanings, but I can’t remember them all; I’ve got:
Observation: Time moves in a similar way to the way that an arrow moves (i.e. fast)
Observation: There is a certain species of insect called ‘Time Flies’ and they are particularly fond of arrows.
Instruction: Find some flies that resemble arrows and measure their speed.
Instruction: Find some flies and measure their speed in the same way that you would measure the speed of an arrow
any more?
I think that this is a problem with the word nothing.
“Is nothing a thing” expresses the problem. If nothing is a thing then nothing is better than XYZ means XYZ is very bad. If nothing is not a thing then XYZ is very good.
The old joke about what is greater than God, a rich man needs and a poor man owns? A. Nothing . Similarly can be interpretted differently depending on if Nothing is a Thing.
If Nothing is a thing then the jokes answer is the thing that answers all the jokes requirements. If Nothins is not a thing, then the answer is saying there is no answer to this riddle as no thing exists that fills all the criteria.
Math like you could say x>6 and x<5 what is x? Well x has no possible value x is nothing, but is that realy an answer or is it mearly stating the question is meaningless?
I suppose I’m getting wooshed here, but here goes:
It’s the standard ad copy used for products that are close to being commodities.
This is the way that you can manufacture an ibuprofen-based pain reliever and advertise in a way that sounds like you really have something hot:
“No other pain reliever is better than Joe’s Little Green Pills”
It sounds like the product is claiming to be top notch, yet the statement still holds true even if all of the competition is just as good.
Reduced to its barest essence:
“Nothing is better than Joe’s Little Green Pills.”
I’ve often mused phrases like, “She’s dancing like she’s never danced before.”
Is that supposed to be a compliment? I never dance, and you should see me try. Elaine Benis from Seinfeld could probably out-dance me without leaving her chair.
Oh, sure - we could take it for the compliment it is intended to be. But where is the fun in that?
minor7flat5 has it. In advertising code, it is acceptable and legal to claim “no brand of toothpaste is better than MyBrand!” if all the products are essentially equal. Truthfully none is better than any other.
However if you claim “MyBrand is better than TheirBrand,” you need documentation to back up that claim of superiority.
Yeah, but in AdverSpeak, the most minor thing can be used to claim superiority. “Our toothpaste has 5% more torque than their toothpaste when held underwater.” or somesuch.