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I am aware of the use of but to mean except for.

My question is: how current is this usage?

Is it appropriate to use it in contemporary documents that are not literature production? (for example: technical documents)

Alessandro Cuttin
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    It's quite common, but it usually occurs only with universal quantifiers like the all in the following sentence: All of them are here but Jane and Hilda ~ All of them but Jane and Hilda are here. You need the universal quantifier to use but that way. – John Lawler Apr 06 '20 at 17:43
  • As Lawler says, it's quite common to hear "Everyone's here but Jane." Somewhat less common but still idiomatic (though a little Britishy) is "We have all the ingredients but for one." – Hot Licks Apr 06 '20 at 17:54
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    You hear it a lot in the South in the formulation: "It's all over but the shoutin'!" meaning a contest has been settled. – Robusto Apr 06 '20 at 17:58
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    It's certainly more common than save in the same constructions. – Jim Mack Apr 06 '20 at 18:11
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    The related (if not identical) 'had it not been' sense also exists – I would have been killed but for your warning. Probably fairly rare / literary in the UK nowadays. And the use after 'do' – 'He does nothing but lie around all day' – is, I'd say, pretty common. – Edwin Ashworth Apr 06 '20 at 18:15
  • "Anything but that", "anyone but him", "anywhere but there" etc. These are very common in the UK. – Old Brixtonian Apr 06 '20 at 18:56
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    Thanks @JohnLawler! You also answered to the subsequent question, that is: which is the usual construct for this usage of "but". A colleague of mine uses it very frequently, without using the quantifiers, and the resulting sentences sound a little odd. They are easy to understand if "except for" is used instead. – Alessandro Cuttin Apr 06 '20 at 20:21
  • @JohnLawler can you make your comment into an answer so that I can accept it? – Alessandro Cuttin Apr 07 '20 at 08:49

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