Bar (except for)

[Johnyxxx]

Hi,

Is bar (except for) still used in modern English?

Thanks.

 

[GoesStation]

Re: Bar

I see it as a BrE usage, except for the fixed phrase bar none​ which is reasonably common in AmE.

 

[Roman55]

Re: Bar

It is, in 'bar one' or, 'bar none'.


Other than that, I'd say not really.

 

[Barb_D]

Re: Bar

Yes, in the form of "barring" usually, which I feel means "unless" more than "except for."

http://fraze.it/n_search.jsp?q=barring&l=0

Here are some phrases using "barring."

 

[Johnyxxx]

Re: Bar

I am asking because I have seen it only in an older literature.

Chains are useless; nothing keeps a man still. Bar anaesthesia. And anaesthesia is the
one thing barred. (Aleister Crowley, The Soul-Hunter, 1908)

Angela had always admitted, but distinctly preferable to nothing. For those few clippings were all that remained to her of the one episode that had relieved three decades and a half of drudgery—the only piece of ‘luck’ or colour (bar the legacy) that she had known. (Not There, J. Metcalfe, 1948)

Thanks for your replies.

 

[GoesStation]

Re: Bar

It is, in 'bar one' or, 'bar none'.


Other than that, I'd say not really.

The Economist​ uses it pretty often. I don't suppose their usage is representative of British usage as a whole, though.

 

[Tdol]

Re: Bar

I am asking because I have seen it only in an older literature.

Chains are useless; nothing keeps a man still. Bar anaesthesia. And anaesthesia is the
one thing barred. (Aleister Crowley, The Soul-Hunter, 1908)

This Crowley quote sounds dated to me. It is used in modern BrE, but not that much, and I agree that barring is more common.

 

[Barb_D]

Re: Bar

I also want to firmly agree that "bar none" is a rather common use.

 

[jutfrank]

Re: Bar

Yes, it's still used fairly commonly -- I've just seen it in a blog I was reading.