On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 13:48:01 GMT, Bob Cunningham
<exw6sxq@earthlink.net> wrote:
> On 26 Nov 2005 21:11:42 -0800, "SwordAngel"
> <swordangel@gmail.com> said:
>
> [...]
>
>> Which of the following sentence would be more correct, under what
>> circumstances?
>
>> 1. "I did this but not that."
>> 2. "I did this and not that."
>
> I sense a difference between them, but it's a little hard to
> pin down just what it is.
>
> I think it may be that when you say "I did this but not
> that", you think saying "I did this" might imply that you
> did that, and you want to hasten to add that it doesn't so
> imply.
That's how I see it.
> Saying "I did this and not that" doesn't seem to have that
> implication. The thing you did and the thing you did not do
> have less association.
I feel that with "and not" the association is there but it is confirming
the first part:
I like my eggs hard and not runny.
The "and not" part is effectively saying the same thing but using the
opposite to emphasise it:
When I heard the noise I went to the door and not to the window.
This emphasises that I went to the door as the intended action, whereas
When I heard the noise I went to the door but not to the window
implies that I probably should have gone to both but failed to do so.
> I might say "I wore swimming trunks and not shoes", but
> "I wore shoes but not socks".
Hmm, I'm struggling to find many uses of "and not" which I would regard
as common. In your example I might say "and no shoes" (there being no
connection between wearing trunks and wearing shoes) but "trunks and not
shoes" sounds odd to me, I feel that there is an implication that
wearing trunks and wearing shoes are incompatible. For instance:
I wore trousers and not a skirt
(I wouldn't wear both at the same time) whereas
I wore a shirt but not a tie
where it might be reasonable to assume that wearing one would imply the
other.
> Anyway, either of your examples is unexceptionably good and
> natural English.
I think "but not" is more natural in most cases, although I'd accept
either as 'correct'. It's a fine point, though.
Chris C
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