anything but
只不过是；絶非
这个词组中的but应解释为except。anything but字面 上的意思是「除了…之外的任何东西」，引申的意思是「絶 非」°例如He’s anything but a gentleman.，意思是「他这个人絶非君子。」。anything but如果用在否定句中，意思反过来成为「只不 过是…」，「就是…而巳」。
Like all Chinese youths of his day，Mao was attracted to his country’s heroic past，as portrayed in novels and myth，but he had no illusions that his ancestors were anything but peasants.(出自：TIME, Nov. 4，1996，pp. 40-41)
像当时所有的中国青年一样，毛〔泽东〕对小说与传奇中所描写 的中国辉煌历史神往不已，但他很清楚他的先人只不过是农民。