# What is the meaning of "if not"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 30, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820 "2003-12-30T19:30:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc29f/32.png) [@Lazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/1 "2003-12-30T19:30:59Z")
Although I am a native speaker of English, I confess I have never been sure I understand the meaning of “if not” in sentences like “he is one of the fastest speakers, if not the fastest”. Does it mean (a) He is one of the fastest speakers, and maybe even the fastest, or (b) He is one of the fastest speakers, but not the fastest? Can it be ambiguous? ---
**Author:** ![basco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a3d4f5/32.png) [@basco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/basco)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/2 "2003-12-30T19:36:40Z")
I would have never pondered that question…if not for your asking… ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/3 "2003-12-30T19:39:38Z")
It means (a). He COULD be the fastest, but there is not enough data to know for sure. It never means (b). ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/4 "2003-12-30T19:49:46Z")
It means **if** he’s **not** one of the fastest runners on the world, then he’s the fastest. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/5 "2003-12-30T20:13:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > \*\*It means **if** he’s **not** one of the fastest runners on the world, then he’s the fastest. \*\* Far be it from me to correct the knowledgeable **Q.E.D.** , but I think a closer meaning would be – “He’s one of the fastest runners in the world. In fact, maybe he’s even the fastest.” ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/6 "2003-12-30T20:26:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fat Bald Guy \* > \*\*Far be it from me to correct the knowledgeable **Q.E.D.** , but I think a closer meaning would be – “He’s one of the fastest runners in the world. In fact, maybe he’s even the fastest.” \*\* FBG’s formulation better expresses the nuance. But I would not call Q.E.D.'s formulation wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/7 "2003-12-30T20:37:57Z")
I think it’s rather the reverse of **QED** ’s formulation - if he isn’t the fastest speaker, he’s certainly among the top few. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyNMellow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@CrazyNMellow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyNMellow)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/8 "2003-12-30T20:50:45Z")
I think its unbelievable that the meaning of “if not” is even being debated. Being 2 of the most simple and obvious words in the english language, it seems ridiculous, if not ludicris. ---
**Author:** ![Lazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc29f/32.png) [@Lazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/9 "2003-12-30T21:13:23Z")
Thanks for the enlightenment. I still waver slightly, though. What about the sentence: “He can drive a car, if not a bus”? Could this not mean either (a) He can drive a car and maybe even a bus, or (b) He can drive a car but not a bus? Wouldn’t it depend on the context? Or is it always (a)? ---
**Author:** ![wet\_marble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e0b2c6/32.png) [@wet\_marble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wet_marble)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/10 "2003-12-30T21:54:30Z")
It is always (A). “If not” is never used as a negative. To use your first example: He’s one of the fastest speakers in the world, if not the fastest. To rewrite: **If** he’s **not** the fastest speaker in the world, he’s one of the fastest. Your second example is more ambiguous, but only because it is not a common usage for the phrase. Simply put, it doesn’t really make sense. He can drive a car, if not a bus To rewrite: **If** he can **not** drive a bus, he can drive a car. I hope that helps to clear things up. Personally I’ve only seen “if not” used as a comparison between one state and another. ie. good, if not the best. bad, if not the worst. mediocre if not awful. ---
**Author:** ![Lazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc29f/32.png) [@Lazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/11 "2003-12-30T22:07:03Z")
Ok, but when I typed in “if not the” into Google, one of the first 10 hits was this article: [http://www.irvineworldnews.com/Astories/july3/golf.html](http://www.irvineworldnews.com/Astories/july3/golf.html) It is titled “He can drive the ball, if not the cart”. It is about a blind golfer who can play golf, but who cannot drive the golf cart. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/12 "2003-12-30T22:36:09Z")
I think it depends on whether the two items are subsets of each other. (I don’t think I have the ability to clarify that remark though.) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/13 "2003-12-30T23:05:52Z")
It seems to me that we have two disjunctive concepts being conveyed by different meanings of “if not” – one where it replaces “perhaps” and one where it replaces “though not.” Test these out in our example sentences – and note that the “one of the fastest” sentence is capable of either construction. It may mean that we affirm he is one of the fastest and choose not to take a stand on the possibility that he is the fastest, which we acknowledge may be true but leave open for debate, or it may mean that he is definitely ranked No. 2 or No. 3 or No. 4, but not No. 1, in terms of speed. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/14 "2003-12-30T23:10:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SmackFu \* > \*\*I think it depends on whether the two items are subsets of each other. (I don’t think I have the ability to clarify that remark though.) \*\* And I think you should be commended for a valuable contribution to the analysis, if not the precise definition sought! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/15 "2003-12-31T02:31:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > \*\*It means **if** he’s **not** one of the fastest runners on the world, then he’s the fastest. \*\* Wrong. Your misinterpretation is common, but the sentence really means: He may not be the world’s fastest runner, but he is among the fastest. Of course, this points to the improper usage of “fastest.” ---
**Author:** ![Lazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc29f/32.png) [@Lazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/16 "2003-12-31T02:37:47Z")
The “two disjunctive concepts” interpretation of the construction is, I guess, what I use in practice. It just really bugs me since that it seems, in print at any rate, I often can’t figure out what the correct interpretation is supposed to be. In speech, I can hear the intonation, but in print, I would have to already know a lot about the topic to be able to choose, for example, between the interpretations “almost, but not quite the best” and “almost and maybe even the best” from context alone. ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/17 "2003-12-31T03:20:36Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Q.E.D._ > It means if he’s not one of the fastest runners on the world, then he’s the fastest. How could he be “_the_ fastest”, without being “one of the fastest”? It would seem logically impossible. I second the alternate reading “if he is not the single fastest, he’s certainly among the fastest.” This usage can arise as a genuine/rhetorical afterthought, strengthened by parallelism to other equivalent phrasings, such as “He is one of the fastest -possibly _the_ fastest,” many of which are equally natural, but seem a bit uneuphonious on examination. ---
**Author:** ![Thrillhouse15](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ad7895/32.png) [@Thrillhouse15](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thrillhouse15)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/18 "2003-12-31T03:26:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lazy \* > \*\*Ok, but when I typed in “if not the” into Google, one of the first 10 hits was this article: [http://www.irvineworldnews.com/Astories/july3/golf.html](http://www.irvineworldnews.com/Astories/july3/golf.html) > > It is titled “He can drive the ball, if not the cart”. It is about a blind golfer who can play golf, but who cannot drive the golf cart. \*\* I think most of what has been said is correct (the fastest speaker analysis). The above headline basically follows the same pattern, but may be confusing because it contains a play on the word “drive.” What the headline really means is, “We know he can drive the ball, perhaps he can drive a cart as well.” Essentially the same construction, but different from your “drive a car, drive a bus” example from earlier because in the car-bus sentence, “drive” had the same meaning in both clauses. Hope that helps. ---
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/19 "2003-12-31T06:02:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrazyNMellow \* > \*\*I think its unbelievable that the meaning of “if not” is even being debated. Being 2 of the most simple and obvious words in the english language, it seems ridiculous, if not ludicris. \*\* **CrazyNMellow** , just stick around a bit longer and you’ll begin to realize that this type of arguement is rather common here. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820/20 "2003-12-31T07:30:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Thrillhouse15 \* > \*\* What the headline really means is, “We know he can drive the ball, perhaps he can drive a cart as well.” \*\* Actually, I read it more as “we know he cannot drive the cart, but he can sure drive the ball”. I do agree with you though on the more important point here that, in the case of this headline, the play on the word “drive” is the root of the confusion. (Though I also find it quite unusual for a native speaker of English to be confused over this. Not that I’m doubting you (Lazy) or anything; it just seems unusual.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-if-not/221820.md?page=2)