1) 在实际语言中，anything but 相当于否定副词 not，后面可以接上形容词或名词成分，表示强烈的否定。例如美国总统大选中反对布什的人提出口号 Anything but Bush（直译是“只要没有布什就什么都行”）。

• Though the tail assembly of the aircraft was anything but intact, you could tell what it had once been.飞机的尾部尽管已经毁坏，但是原先的形状仍旧依稀可辨。
• Langdon was feeling anything but fortunate. (Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, p.15)朗顿觉得自己真倒霉。

又例如在餐馆的厕所可以看到告示：If the restroom is anything but clean, please... 如果厕所有不够洁净之处，烦请…这个 anything but 甚至可以代替 not 出现在谓语动词组当中。

• The confidence of the business community and the consumer has been anything but buoyed by the performance of the Bush team's economic leadership. (US News & World Report, Nov. 25, 2002, p.84)企业界和消费者的信心，根本没有从布什班子的经济领导业绩那里得到什么鼓励。

有时候 anything but 后面没有别的词语，意思也是“（前面情况的）反面”。

• What began as a convenience is now anything but.本来开头是一种方便，现在却成了麻烦。

2) anything else 也可以表示否定。见 else 条。

3) anything you say 是“好的，照你说的办”的意思。

• —Will you please take this over to the cleaners?—Sure, anything you say. —请你把这个送到洗衣店去好吗？—好的，你怎么说就怎么办。