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Glite Dictionary
to say nothing of

to say nothing of

6 6.1
To mention an extra fact that makes the situation seem more surprising or serious
  • idiom
translation icon : sin mencionar
  • In a year, over two hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars, to say nothing of potential bank interest.

But all things considered, most base model Macs, to say nothing of the high cost for upgrades, haven't been that big of a RIP off.

Examples

  • Indeed, this would pose some very difficult political, legal, and social questions, to say nothing of the technical problems.

    Blog text (10)

  • The storm caused significant damage to the roads, to say nothing of the power outages.

  • But you still need two more, to say nothing of what you need next year.

    Blog text (17)

  • What it had done to his mind and his body, to say nothing of his soul, over two and a half years

    Fiction book (1995)

  • But it is hard to preserve one's values, to say nothing of one's identity, in the face of strong government and peer pressures.

    Academic text (2000)

  • It's heartbreaking to say nothing of the financial loss, which just adds insult to injury.

    Blog text (27)

  • Now, these four propositions could easily be endorsed by most conservatives, to say nothing of the great majority of the American people.

    Academic text (1992)

  • The state was now seen as an impediment to economic dynamism, to say nothing of democracy.

    Academic text (1992)

  • There is apparently no room for liberals, to say nothing of conservatives, in this pantheon of educational publications.

    Academic text (1991)

  • America has $200T in unfunded liabilities, to say nothing of the $16T in current debt.

    Blog text (4)

Synonyms

not to mention
vsto say nothing of
465 3.7

Shows that something is even more important than what was just said

adds another element that makes the situation worse more surprising or more impressive

Surface Forms

to say nothing of main

Morphology

to + say + nothing + of

The literal components 'say' + 'nothing' + 'of' directly suggest 'not mentioning' something, so a learner who knows the words can often infer the core meaning 'not to mention / let alone'. However, the phrase has a fixed discourse function (adding an additional, often emphatic factor) that is somewhat idiomatic and requires pragmatic knowledge to use and interpret accurately, so it is not fully compositional. Similar constructions exist in many languages (e.g. Spanish 'por no hablar de'), which helps partial inferability but does not make it fully transparent.

Etymology

To say nothing of comes from the simple image of a speaker who seems to say nothing about an extra fact, yet mentions it anyway to make a stronger point. Imagine someone listing problems and adding 'to say nothing of the rain' to show the rain makes things even worse. So it means 'not to mention' and is used to add one more thing that makes the situation bigger or more surprising.