nothing else
161
2.1
- idiom
:
al menos
- So if you learn nothing else from this class.
For legally it's rape, if nothing else, statutory rape.
- For legally it's rape, if nothing else, statutory rape.
- And I think that's, if nothing else, that's that's the take away here.
Examples
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She promised that if nothing else, she would always be there for me.
-
I mean, at least you feel like if you get nothing else right, you left that.
-
And when you come that close to death, nothing else matters in life.
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Like I could do nothing else the rest of the day.
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There is nothing else like it on the road.
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I want your full support and nothing else.
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There was nothing else I could do.
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There is nothing else we can do.
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Her life now would consist of taking care of the children and nothing else.
Fiction book (1991) -
I’m so sorry, but there’s nothing else I can do.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
No more than the thing or person mentioned
∞
1.0
You say this when something is only what is said, nothing more
∞
1.5
Only, not anything else
92
2.9
To say that something is only what it is and not more important
37
4.9
A strong way to say that something is exactly or at least what you expect
How Exclusive
∞
1.0
161
2.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'no other thing' or 'no more than that' is directly and compositionally derived from 'nothing' (no thing) + 'else' (other/additional), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer the MWE. This construction is cross-linguistically common and follows standard compositional patterns (e.g., Spanish 'nada más', French 'rien d'autre'), supporting a transparent rating.
Etymology
The saying nothing else comes from the simple image of a nearly empty box with nothing else inside except one small thing. When people say 'nothing else', they point to that single thing and mean 'at least' it is true, even if there is nothing more.