[Idiom] Anything if

[eisenpony]

A colleague of mine used this to refer to something that is not true. e.g., My professor is anything if fair -- meaning that his professor is definitely not fair.

Personally, I would have said "My professor is anything but fair", but I actually like the subtle meaning implied by the word if. It seems to suggest that if I, as an observer, wanted to assert this professor was in fact fair, then the speaker would claim my instincts are so off that I might believe anything is true.

I have never heard anyone else use the phrase but am wondering if it is more common elsewhere. Have you heard it? do you think it is correct?

 

[5jj]

'Anything if fair' is not natural English. It has no meaning.

 

[emsr2d2]

It makes no sense at all.

He is nothing but fair = He is always fair.
He is nothing if not fair = He is fair, even if he is nothing else.
He is anything but fair = He is not fair but he is a lot of other things.

 

[Tdol]

My professor is anything if fair

I don't use it- anything but fair is the natural form for me.