Not to mention

Not to mention,[It goes without saying that] I have been posting messages to the LingQ forums in order to practice writing sentences in English. Lately, I have been using my iPad to compose English sentences. My iPad is always connected to the Internet, so I can post my messages wherever I go. This time, sitting on a sofa, I tried to begin a message with a phrase ‘not to mention’.

It’s always good to mention your not mentioning things.

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Not to mention, ‘not to mention’ means ‘it goes without saying that’. These phrases are very useful for me because I can begin a sentence without any ideas beforehand.

“It is not a matter to mention, but I am going to say this, . . .”
Can ‘Not to mention plus comma’ not mean the above phrase?

Hmm, that is kind of correct, but sort of not correct. “Not to mention” implies that you have already been talking about something, and then you are adding to the thought. What you are saying here is that you are starting the conversation with it, which is not really correct.

True, most people would probably not correct you on it. They would ignore the mistake because it is not very important.

Here is an example:
I have had many problems with the new machine. Not to mention the fact that it was very costly, I am wondering if I made a bad choice.

So really what I am doing in this example is making a point: The machine has problems. The second sentence adds to it the cost.

So really you could interpret “not to mention” as meaning “in addition”.
So you can see that starting a sentence with “in addition” as the beginning of a conversation also implies that we had already been talking, not that we are continuing talking.

Do you understand, Yutaka?

“If you are running several websites and want to collect more informations about visitors or give them a way to connect with you, developer version would be a shinning[?] choice. It’s not to mention that with this license, you can get a lot more features like:
Advanced support for payment by Paypal. . .”
http://bestonlinecouponcodes.com/gravity-forms-discount-code/

I wonder what the ‘it’ in the above sentence designate.
Does ‘mention’ have an object?

@Yutaka You are right to question the sentence, it does not make a lot of sense.

Instead of “It’s not to mention…” I’d use “It goes without saying that with this licence you can get…” (although, if it goes without saying - ie it is not necessary to be mentioned - why mention it at all?)

It’s one of those phrases we use without thinking too much about what it says.

What is meant by ‘shinning’ choice, I wonder?

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It goes without saying that I should use ‘it goes without saying’ instead of ‘it is not to mention’, doesn’t it?

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Hi Yutaka,

  1. In that quote they said “Informations”, but information does not have a plural form. You can read more here: etymology - Why does "information" not have a plural form? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

  2. “Shinning” is a misspelling of the word “shining” which means to emit light. There is a very old word shinning meaning to run fast, but it is almost never used any more, and via the context of the sentence it is obvious the person is trying to write shining. What is meant by “shining choice” is that the choice is obvious. If you have two objects and one of them emits light, then that one is much more obvious.

  3. “It’s not to mention” is very awkward. Use “not to mention” or “it goes without saying” interchangeably.

  4. Also, “it goes without saying” means that the speaker is aware that they are saying something that is common knowledge but is stating it as a point of reminder to help support their point. The reason you might not want to mention something is that it is glaringly obvious, but you want to keep it mind in reference to the conversation.

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@Lance_R
Thank you for your detailed information.

I suppose that “it is not to mention” means “it is not supposed to be mentioned”. Am I right in thinking that “to mention” means “to be mentioned”, even if native speakers of English do not write it this way?
The question is what “it” designates. Is “it” something already referred to, or is it the clause following “that”?

P.S.
I am afraid that I am ‘reinventing’ the English language, intentionally or unintentionally. I feel really sorry for all the native speakers of that language, but this might be the sacrifice the English language has to make for attaining global popularity.

“I’m not being altogether serious when I say that….”

I happened to find the above phrase in a dictionary. I like this phrase; or using a longer expression, I cannot resist the attraction of this phrase.
I’m not being altogether serious when I say that I am reinventing the English language.

When non native speakers speak english, they often use grammatical artifacts from their native language, such as a German using a slightly different word order. Native speakers largely ignore the rearrangement of the words without offering correction. “It is not to mention” is simply overcomplicating the sentence structure for no real reason.

English strives to be clear and concise.

Using several consecutive prepositional phrases (i.e., prepositional strings) is wordy and creates poor sentence rhythm.

Examples:

Prepositional Strings–
Ringo can deduct the $23,000 for the cost of the pool at the new home as a medical expense.

Better Sentence–
Ringo can deduct the $23,000 cost of the new home’s pool as a medical expense.

http://www2.gsu.edu/~accerl/wordiness/WO.html

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/6/9/24

Dear Yutaka, don’t be sorry for ‘reinventing’ the English language. When I go to a Spanish speaking country and struggle to speak with my duct-tape Spanish, I brutalize the language, but that is what learning is all about.

Besides, there are plenty of people willing to help; like everyone who answers you on this forum.

Since I’m sure you already know that - judging by your 2909 posts, this would be the perfect opportunity for me to say that it goes without saying that I don’t have to tell you that.

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For the purpose of your entertainment, I used to work at a Manhattan (NYC) newspaper. I was an Art Director/Graphic Artist.

As a result of working there with copy writers, editors, and copy editors a lot of the proper rules for publishing have rubbed off onto me. I am accustomed to tending toward the Chicago Manual of Style, which is why I know a decent amount about this kind of thing.

Here you go, dive in!

Professional writers that don’t adhere to the basic format and guidelines, aren’t usually able to keep their job very long.

Since you seem to enjoy all this linguistic exactitude and a good fun English workout, you should take a look at (and download) the First Edition (printed in 1906, University of Chicago Press). I think you would really enjoy paging through it, and trying to understand.

@Lance_R
Thank you for telling me the link. I did not know that manual has an online version.
I have the 14th edition. The book is too thick to carry around.

Wow, you blow my mind!

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you already have the book. :slight_smile:

Yes, it is a pdf, so you can have it just for fun and reference…