“We are all but defenceless”

“All but x” idiomatically means “almost completely x” or “nearly x” in English. I agree that this one is counterintuitive logically on the surface.

Translates as “we are almost defenceless” “All but defenceless” means that “we aren’t technically defenceless, but we are so close to defenceless that it doesn’t make a difference”.

[I found this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/s/hAP4WFopnA) on r/etymology that examines this phrase/construction

Being all but defenceless, they are next to defenceless.

We're all but done here.

We are all but defenceless Means the only thing you are is defenceless. We are anything but defenseless means you could be hurt or anything else but you are not defenceless. We are all but defenceless could be used in a context like "anything but" however it would sound akward even though it would be understood. To elaborate the phrase means you are extremely close to being defenceless while not being there quite yet however colloqually it is thought of as just being defenceless.

The more modern way to say this would be "we're practically defenseless." We're not literally completely defenseless, but we might as well be.

It means very nearly. If you are all but defenseless, you are not completely defenseless but nearly so. If you are all but dead, you are very nearly dead but not quite dead. Think of it as a computer progress bar at 99% being all but completed. It's not completed, but it's close. I think the confusion comes because you take it to mean: 1) "all things except for" which it can mean in certain contexts, like when it refers to a noun and not an adjective, eg "The loud noise startled all but one of the dogs." 2) "anything but" which means not at all, eg. "We are anything but defenseless" would mean "We are not at all defenseless."

Think of it like "we're almost all the way to outcome X", or, rephrasing it, "all of the steps needed to meet the criteria for outcome X are complete except for some very small remaining steps". So the point is, we already meet nearly all the criteria for defencelessness, and it would take very little further weakening for us to wholly meet the definition.

No, the intended meaning is "_almost_ defenseless". They can fight but it won't be a long one.

I think the key is to understand that, in addition to its normal meaning, the word "but" can also mean "except". For example: * "Did you get all your errands done?" "Almost. I went everywhere but the bank." This means you went to all the places on your list except the bank. * From the 1983 song "Miss Gradenko" by The Police, which is about soulless corporate life and finding a rare human connection within it: "Is anybody alive in here? Is anybody at all in here? Nobody but us in here, nobody but us." This means nobody at the office is (emotionally) alive, except two people: the main character and Miss Gradenko. * "Were you able to get in contact with your boss?" "No, I can't reach him. I tried emailing him, texting him, phoning him, messaging him on the company chat server, and several other things. I did everything but drive over to his house and knock on the front door." This means you tried everything imaginable except for one thing which is too extreme. (It's also hyperbolic. You didn't literally try everything.) So, back to "all but". You can pretty much replace it with "everything except". "All but defenceless" doesn't mean you are completely defenseless. It means you aren't quite *totally* defenseless, but any less severe statement you want to make about being defenseless *is* true.

A different way to phrase that is: "We are not defenseless... *but we might as well be.*"