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In today's Yahoo! News, there is a report on small houses around the world, which contains the sentence, "Patriotism aside, there's much to love about Europe's devotion to small-space living."

Isn't a sentence that begins with "Patriotism aside" supposed to go on to promote the domestic version? That is how I've always understood this "aside" construction. Or is it an expression with two opposite meanings, like the word "sanction"?

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You've seem to written this in Esperanto, I think? In any case, I'm afraid only English is permitted on the Stack Exchange network, for several reasons, including moderation purposes and site cohesiveness. There are several Language and Usage sites that have exceptions for the target language of that particular site, but that doesn't apply to us here at English Language and Usage. – waiwai933♦ Nov 18 '12 at 2:36
Mike, your past activity on the site indicates that you are able to speak English. What compelled you to write a question in Esperanto, out of curiosity? – Mahnax Nov 18 '12 at 3:38
The sentence seems poorly written to me. It's literally saying we should love the devotion to small-space living, as opposed to the concept of small-space living, or even the small spaces themselves, which seems to be the point of the article. – Sam Nov 18 '12 at 13:53

2 Answers

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Anything that begins the clause "blank aside," means that the following independent clause will be a truth without taking the object of the dependent clause into consideration. It doesn't necessarily have to be an opposite or domestic view.

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Specifically in this case, it implies that some people love Europe's devotion to small-space living simply out of a kind of nationalistic pride. – Sam Nov 18 '12 at 13:51
I think this answer is okay except for the "will be a truth" part. The clause does not need to be a truth- it might even be a question. – Jim Nov 18 '12 at 21:44
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< your noun phrase > aside ...
can be replaced with:

Without even considering < your noun phrase > ...

It means, "Put any thought of < your noun phrase > aside for a moment.

Without even thinking about the patriotism angle, there's much to love about Europe's devotion to small-space living.

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Point taken. Thanks. – Jim Nov 18 '12 at 17:18

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