I dont know why ppl created so much fuss. I fully agree to/with what Martin said.

This phrase {"all but"} has a function opposite to what is stated. May be some of these linguist guys have got their heads stuck up somewhere. Just try to look at it from a 'natural' perspective.

And ofcourse, this is not a campaign to abolish this term from the English language, just a discussion about "pain in the english" which is what the name of this site is, why dont those guys get it?