Meaning of "Schemas are changed infrequently, if at all"
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Chapters
00:00 Meaning Of &Quot;Schemas Are Changed Infrequently, If At All&Quot;
01:13 Accepted Answer Score 13
01:45 Answer 2 Score 2
02:02 Answer 3 Score 11
03:01 Thank you
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#avk47
ACCEPTED ANSWER
Score 13
"if at all" is an idiomatic phrase whose meaning tends to emphasize a restriction stated in the preceding clause. In this case, the statement is equivalent to:
Schemas are changed infrequently, if schemas are changed at all.
In more explicit terms:
Schemas are changed infrequently, and it may often be the case that a schema is never changed.
This idiom also can take the forms "if ever", "if anything", "if anybody/anyone", etc.
ANSWER 2
Score 11
SUPPLEMENTAL:
Mark Beadles' answer is entirely correct. I add this only to clarify how the construction works and how you may extend it in the matter he suggests.
The basic structure is A1, if not A2, where A2 is an adjective or adverb in the same scale as A1, but more extreme. For example:
- reddish, if not red
- most, if not all
- some, if not most
- sometimes, if not often
If A2 is a negative, however, the double negative not A2 looks odd or ungrammatical, and is rewritten as a positive
- few, if *not none ---> few, if any
- rarely, if *not never ---> rarely, if ever
Your example is one of these rewritten double negatives:
- infrequently, if *not not at all ---> infrequently, if at all
The sense in all these is “I assert A1, but I will not go quite so far as to assert A2, although I hold it open as a possibility”.
ANSWER 3
Score 2
It may make more sense if you reverse the order,
If at all, schemas are changed infrequently.
Rephrasing even further:
If they are ever changed at all, it is done infrequently.