"all but" = all of; a mere"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Have seen this before in undergrad writing; don't know just when:

  2006 Amazon.com Customer Review [http://www.amazon.com/review/product/0613279085?showViewpoints=1]: At the age of 30(6 years ago) i bought a copy of the book AND the cliffs notes to help me through the difficult dialogue. i found this to be a page turner. it took me all but three days to red the book-even with its level diffculty.

  JL


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