I made up the sentence "A isn't as tall as B". Does it mean B is taller or A? Can it be ambiguous just saying they aren't of equal height?
3
-
Wait. What? You made up a sentence and you don't know what it means? That's throwing words together and asking others what they mean.– FeliniusRex - goneCommented Jun 12, 2021 at 4:22
-
Good question. You might expect that "Alice isn't as tall as Bob" could mean Alice is taller or shorter, but it actually means "Alice is shorter than Bob".– gotube ♦Commented Jun 12, 2021 at 4:55
-
I made it up just knowing that it's grammatically correct, but I wasn't sure about the meaning.– VovaCommented Jun 13, 2021 at 7:41
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
The construction "isn't as tall as" is, idiomatically, not just the negation of "is as tall as".
The positive statement "Alice is as tall as Bob" means that they are functionally equal in height (this might not mean exactly equal but in context their heights are equivalent) It also means that both are (in some context) tall.
The negative statement "Alice isn't a tall as Bob" mean that Bob is (in context) particularly tall, and Alice is less tall. It doesn't mean "unequal height", except as a deliberate surprise.
Is Alice as tall as Bob? (The questioner knows that Bob is tall and is asking if Alice is equally tall.)
(reply 1) No, Alice isn't as tall as Bob (Therefore Alice is shorter
(Reply 2) Yes, She has grown a lot this year. (Alice and Bob are the same, or similar in height. Both are tall.)
(reply 3) No, Alice isn't as tall as Bob, in fact she's taller!! (deliberate breaking of the rule for the surprise)
