it wasn't only only

English

	A user has added this entry to requests for verification⁽⁺⁾
	If it cannot be verified that this term meets our attestation criteria, it will be deleted. Feel free to edit this entry as normal, but do not remove `{{rfv}}` until the request has been resolved.

Etymology

From a quote by World Rally Championship ex-driver Henning Solberg, in turn a literal translation of Norwegian Bokmål Men men, det er ikke bare bare.

Proverb

it wasn't only only (present tense it isn't only only, present tense it's not only only)

(slang, Norway) An act or task was harder to do than it might seem.
- Sometime between February 2004 and 9 May 2008, exact date unknown, Sigve Kvamme, quoting Henning Solberg, WRC TV / Dagbladet‎^[1], retrieved 16 October 2023:
  But but, it wasn't only only.
- 2017 April 12, Christian Westgaard, Enomic Community Forum‎^[2], retrieved 26 December 2023:
  Then you could use http client again 🙂 still a bit hacky, but but it isn’t only only
- 2017 September 2, Folk som liker bøker (team), Apple Podcasts‎^[3], retrieved 16 October 2023:
  It wasn't only only, but but.
- 2022 July 5, Andrew Byles, Instagram‎^[4], retrieved 17 October 2024:
  It isn’t only only, to be a fly fisherman today.
- 2023 October 7, Cecilie Bolander, Instagram‎^[5], retrieved 16 October 2023:
  It's not only only, but but

Usage notes

Most commonly used during informal code-switching between Norwegians, but has occasionally been used by Norwegians when speaking English (albeit fairly rarely).

Synonyms

easier said than done

Derived terms