Meaning of Idiom ‘Bar None’
Bar none means without exception.
Usage
This idiom is generally used with a superlative such as best or worst.
Examples of Use
“My Uncle Henry was the meanest person I’ve ever known, bar none.”
“Baseball is bar none the best game ever invented.”
“Many people regard Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa to be the greatest painting of all time, bar none.”
Origin
Used since the mid-1800’s. 1Brenner, Gail Abel. Webster’s New World American Idioms Handbook. Wiley, 2003. 2Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
Bar, in this expression, is used in the British way, as a preposition, to mean “except for or apart from” Hence, bar none means the same as excepting none or apart from none.
More Idioms Starting with B
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Sources
| 1. | ↲ | Brenner, Gail Abel. Webster’s New World American Idioms Handbook. Wiley, 2003. |
| 2. | ↲ | Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. |