"At least" (broadcast journalism)

[Jonathan Lighter]

Maybe a momentary reprieve is better than no reprieve at all.

But context and intonation would have made the meaning clear.

JL

On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 7:28 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      "At least" (broadcast journalism)
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>
> Diane Sawyer reported on the Gulf oil slick on this evening's ABC
> news.  She said that its size had decreased somewhat since yesterday,
> probably meaning only that some oil had sunk to the seabed.  "It
> seems a momentary reprieve at least."
>
> Surely she meant "at most."
>
> Joel
>
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