paraphrase of "not so...that"

[Seiichi MYOGA]

I think (2) means the same as (1) does.

(1) The wind was not so strong that it blew the roof off the house.
(2) Though the wind was very strong, it didn't blow the roof off the house.

Do you agree?

Thank you in advance
Seiichi MYOGA

[tedtmc]

(1) The wind was not so strong as to blow the roof off the house.
(2) Though the wind was very strong, it didn't blow the roof off the house.

I think the two sentences have slightly different meanings.
(1) says that the wind is not strong enough.
(2) says that the wind is strong but not enough to blow the roof off.

[Seiichi MYOGA]

Dear tedtmc,

I appreciate your help and comments.

I had wrongly assumed that "so" can also appear within the negative scope when the that-clause is positive (, and so forget about the (2) part).

And let me rephrase my question.
What is the negative question of (3)?

(3) The wind was so strong that it blew the roof off the house.

(4) a. The wind was not so strong that it blew the roof off the house.
b. The wind was not strong enough that it blew the roof off the house.

Is the correct answer (4b) (but not (4a))?

Let's wait and see what native speakers of English will say.

Seiichi MYOGA

[tedtmc]

Any of the teachers/native speakers care to comment?

[stuartnz]

(1) The wind was not so strong as to blow the roof off the house.
(2) Though the wind was very strong, it didn't blow the roof off the house.

I think the two sentences have slightly different meanings.
(1) says that the wind is not strong enough.
(2) says that the wind is strong but not enough to blow the roof off.

I'm a native speaker, not a professional teacher but I think the two are similar in meaning. One could say, "The wind was strong, but not so strong that it blew the roof off". The phrase "the wind was not so strong" does carry the implication that it was not a gentle breeze either. In other words, it could be thought of as having implicit in it the phrase "it was strong but...". That's how I read it, anyway.

[Seiichi MYOGA]

Dear stuartnz,

I appreciate your help and comments.
And my thanks also go to tedtmc. You saved the thread from being buried, forgotten.

One could say, "The wind was strong, but not so strong that it blew the roof off".

Now I understand that (1) is not acceptable unless you use it as a denial (No, you are wrong. Actually, the opposite is the case.) And if there is a contrast, (1) also works, as in (5).

(1) The wind was not so strong that it blew the roof off the house.
(5) The wind wasn't so strong that it blew the roof off the house, but it did blow the fence down.

And now (6) is another example where (1) can work. That's interesting.

(6) The wind was strong, but not so strong that it blew the roof off.

If you allow me, can I ask one last question?

Since the wind couldn't[=didn't have the power to] blow the fence down, I think "could" may appear as below.

(7) a. The wind wasn't so strong that it could blow the roof off the house, but it did blow the fence down.
b. The wind was strong, but not so strong that it could blow the roof off.

Do these sound just unnatural?

Seiichi MYOGA