Could you give some examples where the part following "nothing but" is omitted?

Question

M-W says

anything but
idiom
: not at all
He looked anything but happy.
**Though he said he was happy, he looked anything but.**
This problem is anything but new.

Is the highlighted example actually

Though he said he was happy, he looked anything but happy.

Is the part after the phrase omitted, because it has appeared earlier? This isn't uncommon with the phrase, since the following part is often mentioned earlier to allow the phrase to create a contrast, correct?

If using the opposite phrase "nothing but", is omission of the following part much more rare, because the following part is usually held back and emphasized by the phrase, and therefore much more rare to be mentioned earlier than the phrase? Could you give some examples where the part following "nothing but" is omitted?

Answer 1

You can omit an adjective:

He didn't look very pleased.

-- Yes, anything but!

The meaning is "You might characterize the look on his face in any number of ways, but surely it was not "pleased".

or a noun:

Could this rock be a diamond?

-- Nothing but!

Would it be a lot of trouble to swap these wheels out for a smaller size and install tires with a higher sidewall?

-- Nothing but. You'd need to go to a wider tire, and the tires would rub against the fender when you turned the steering wheel. We'd have to make a lot of adjustments in the wheel well.

Are you telling me the truth?

-- Nothing but.

The meaning is "Indeed, it is" and "Indeed, it would be" and in the third, "Indeed, I am". The noun ellipsis is less common, I'd say, than the counterpart adjective version with "anything", but it is grammatical and idiomatic.