Learn English – “All X are not made equal” – ambiguous meaning

ambiguityidiomsmeaningnegationnegative-raising

A phrase commonly heard in English (at least informal English) is something like the following:

Well, this car is good, but all cars are not made equal!

This would be commonly understood by most English speakers to mean the following sentence, which is what I'd use:

Well, this car is good, but not all cars are made equal!

Isn't the first sentence ambiguous? It could mean what most English speakers would take it to mean, but it could also mean (and I'd argue this is what is should mean):

Well, this car is good, but every single car is made differently!

Another of the many variants on this form of words is where it is identified that not all members of a class are the same as a specific member, for example:

This might be bitter, but all fruits are not lemons!

Again I'd take this to mean:

This might be bitter, but not all fruits are lemons!

And again I'd say that the first phrase is in this case not only ambiguous, but plain wrong. It should literally mean:

This might be bitter, but NO fruits are lemons!

When did this curious form of words start to be used, and by whom? And, are my literal meanings correct, or is there a grammatical sense in which, for example, the latter phrase could mean something other than "NO fruits are lemons" when interpreted strictly?

Best Answer

The phrase "All X are not made equal" (where 'made' can be substituted for any method of creation) derives from the phrase "All men are not created equal", a phrase used to contrast the popular adage "All men are created equal", most famously used in the US Declaration of Independence, penned by Thomas Jefferson:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed;

The sentiment it carries is that some type of a given thing are inherently better than another, due to some aspect of how they were created (born of a 'better race' or from a 'better manufacturer'), e.g. "Not all mean are created equal" for eugenics, "Not all cars are created equal" might be used to suggest one brand is inherently better than another, etc.

Being that it is part of the US Declaration of Independence, US citizens are far more likely to recognise that phrase than others, though it is a fairly well known phrase.

Related Topic