Possible Duplicate:
“all but at most one” - What does it mean?
When a sentence has this phrase: "....which all but one refused to do."
Does it mean all refused to do and only one did it? Or does it mean everyone did it, except one didn't?
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Also related: The construction of “Known but to God” ◊ “All but” idiom has two meanings? ◊ Specific usage of the word 'but' ◊ “to have all but X” ◊ “nothing but” vs. “anything but” vs. “everything but”. – RegDwigнt Apr 15 '12 at 13:37
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This plainly isn't a duplicate: all but at least one is completely different from all but one, which may not be obvious to non-native speakers. There are, however, sufficient similar questions to make this one not worth re-opening. – Tim Lymington Apr 15 '12 at 14:11
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@TimLymington: I'm not sure all but at least one really makes sense in any context. The duplicate is for all but at most* one, and the answer there covers the meaning if "at most"* had been omitted or otherwise failed to apply. – FumbleFingers Apr 15 '12 at 14:44
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It means that all refused to do and only one did it. Sometimes rearranging the structure helps to clarify: "all refused to do [it] but one."
zpletan
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from the otherways, all but one did means everyone did it but one did not do it. – kta Aug 15 '21 at 07:07