"At least" (broadcast journalism)

[Joel S. Berson]

At 5/3/2010 08:09 PM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:
>Sawyer was talking about the reduction in the size of the oil slick. If
>it continues, the problem disappears. Unlikely, but possible. "At least"
>seems correct.

That's not the way I heard it, despite Larry Horn.  The sense I got
is that because the decrease in size was only temporary, it was *at
best* a momentary reprieve.

Is the transcript on-line?  I'd like to see (or hear) the context again.

Joel


>DanG
>
>On 5/3/2010 7:35 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>>Sender:       American Dialect Society<ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Jonathan Lighter<wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>>Subject:      Re: "At least" (broadcast journalism)
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>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:
>>
>>
>>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
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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)
>>>
>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>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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>>
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>>"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
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