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cmovqyesterday at 5:33 PM2 repliesview on HN

I never understood this sentence structure, it adds zero information, it always goes like:

“This isn’t just [what the thing literally is]; it’s [hyperbole on what the thing isn’t].”


Replies

iainmerrickyesterday at 9:54 PM

It’s a perfectly fine sentence structure. It’s been around for years and years. That’s why LLMs use it!

In the UK, Marks and Spencer have a long-running ad campaign built around it (“it’s not just food, it’s...”)

Em dashes are fine too.

crazygringoyesterday at 6:47 PM

The purpose isn't information, the purpose is drama.

Er, sorry. I meant: the purpose isn't just drama—it's a declaration of values, a commitment to the cause of a higher purpose, the first strike in a civilizational war of independence standing strong against commercialism, corporatism, and conformity. What starts with a single sentence in an LLM-rewritten blog post ends with changing the world.

See? And I didn't even need an LLM to write that. My own brain can produce slop with an em dash just as well. :)

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