I am confused by the use of "all but". If you could please give me a general explanation about it, in particular, I would like to know what "all but" signifies in the following sentence:
Latest monthly figures add to string of recent temperature records and all but assure 2016 will be hottest year on record
All but
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Re: All but
The writer of this sentence is telling us that from the recent temperature records it looks promising that 2016 will be the hottest year on record.
I could, then, replace all but in this sentence with 'all in all'. 'All in all' means 'on the whole' or 'all things considered'.
I could, then, replace all but in this sentence with 'all in all'. 'All in all' means 'on the whole' or 'all things considered'.