Language: en
Meaning: (idiomatic)Used to suggest or statetentativelythat something may be the case (often the opposite of something previously implied).The situation is,if anything, worsening rather than improving.“Do you think she’s tall?” / “Oh, no.If anything, she’s short.”“Do you think she’s tall?” / “Oh, yes.If anything, she’s very tall.”1754December 18, J. Ready, “Mr Urban, I Send You a Remarkable Case in Surgery, with the Bone Itself that Came Away;[...]”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym;Edward Cave], editor,The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, volume XXV, London: Printed by D[avid] Henry and R. Cave, atSt John's Gate, published January 1755,→OCLC,page14, column 2:She [a girl who had her lefttibiaremoved] is quite upright, has no defect either of ſtrength or motion in her leg, and ſcarcely any deformity;if any thing, 'tis a ſmall matter bigger than the other juſt above the ankle, occaſioned by the exuberance of the callus, by which the remains of the tibia are conſolidated with the fibula;[…]1997September,Marion Zimmer Bradley,The Shadow Matrix(DAW Book Collectors;no. 1065), New York, N.Y.:DAW Books,→ISBN; republished asThe Shadow Matrix: A Novel of Darkover, New York, N.Y.: DAW Books,1999,→ISBN:My sensitivity to the crystals has,if anything, increased. I have to spend a great deal of energy just keeping myself together, because my impulse is to blast the damn things to flinders.2006January,John G. Hemry,Against All Enemies: A Paul Sinclair Novel, New York, N.Y.:Ace Books,→ISBN,page243:"Then Lieutenant Pullman didn't express uncertainties about any aspect of his primary responsibility or of his other duties onboard the ship?" / "No.If anything, he acted like he was bored by instruction and training. As if he already knew everything. You know the type."; (idiomatic)Used inquestionswhen thespeakerdoes not know for sure if thelistenerwill have ananswer.What can you tell me,if anything, about this book?1865March 1, “Proceedings of a Military Commission Convened by Special Orders No. 23, Headquarters District of Colorado, Denver, Colorado Territory, Dated February 1, 1865, in the Case of ColonelJ[ohn] M[ilton] Chivington, First Colorado Cavalry”, inReport of the Secretary of War, Communicating, in Compliance with a Resolution of the Senate of February 4, 1867, a Copy of the Evidence Taken at Denver and Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, by a Military Commission, Ordered to Inquire into theSand Creek massacre, November 1864(39thCongress, 2nd Session,SenateExecutive Document;no. 26), volume 2, Washington, D.C.:Government Printing Office, published1867,→OCLC,page58:Question. What,if anything, did the Indians say respecting their ability to procure the white captives then in possession of the Sioux? Answer. That they thought it would be difficult to do so,[…]2009,Christopher Robichaud, “Bright Colors, Dark Times”, in Ben Dyer, editor,Supervillans and Philosophy: Sometimes, Evil is Its Own Reward(Popular Culture and Philosophy;42), Chicago; La Salle, Ill.:Open Court Publishing Company,→ISBN, phase 2 (The Nature of Evil),page62:What are values in the first place? What,if anything, make value judgments correct or incorrect?
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