■ if not

本来的意义是“如果不是”，但是实际意义往往是“更上一层楼，甚至是…”。

• He bullied his opponents and impugned their integrity, if not their patriotism.他威吓对手们，否定他们的正直，甚至否定他们的爱国心。
• Their behavior was reproachable, if not criminal.他们的行为是恶劣的，甚至是罪恶的。
• A verdict in favor the tobacco companies would chill, if not freeze, tobacco litigation for a decade.如果判决宣布烟草公司胜诉，今后十年期间，因吸烟问题而打官司的案件将冷却下来，甚至冻结。
• You can raise a healthy amount—thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars.你们可以筹到一大笔钱，有好几千甚至好几万美元。
• They're likely to sell WMD to terrorists, if they haven't already.他们很可能把大规模毁灭性武器卖给恐怖分子，甚至也许已经这样做了（注意：由于后面的 not 其实没有否定意义，所以这句中不用 yet 而用 already）。

if not 也可以改为 not to say，意义相同。

• It is hard, not to say impossible, to tell exactly where the boundary has to be drawn.很难甚至不可能说清楚界线应该划在哪里。