As an active market participant for the past few years, I am amazed by how Algorithmic Trading has redefined the way trading is done and by the increasing number of asset managers that are adopting this technique. Not to mention the outstanding returns and ability to consistently outperform more traditional investment vehicles.
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Is 'not to mention' ever used correctly? I mean, pretty much in every case, the thing that is supposedly not going to be mentioned follows immediately thereafter.– Ed GrimmCommented Jan 29, 2019 at 1:24
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@EdGrimm For me "not to mention" is short for "that is not to mention" where "that" refers to the previous statement (Statement A, say). This means that Statement A does not mention a point included in the second statement (Statement B, say). If "not to mention" were not shortened you would have sentences of the form "<Statement A>, that is not to mention <Statement B>". However we normally say "<Statement A>, not to mention <Statement B>". This is an opinion that I can't support from research so is presented as a comment, however it may help you to be comfortable with the construction.;– BoldBenCommented Jan 29, 2019 at 12:02
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3 Answers
Your example (which is grammatically correct) modified in a different way:
As an active market participant for the past few years, I am amazed by how 'Algorithmic Trading' has redefined the way trading is done and by the increasing number of asset managers that are adopting this technique, not to mention the outstanding returns and ability to consistently outperform more traditional investment vehicles.
A longer sentence, but not a run-on. Including not to mention at the ending parts of a sentence emphasizes its use as a rhetorical device.
From the OED:
not to mention ——: used to refer to an additional fact or point which reinforces the speaker's case (a rhetorical device suggesting that the full strength of the speaker's argument is not being presented).
Another example:
Tempting, but wrong: The Democratic base, not to mention the large majority of Americans is not nearly as partisan as the loudest voices on Twitter or cable news. Slate Jan 27, 2019
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Thanks for your reply, I was worried about the sentence length when I first wrote the paragraph since I didn´t want to lose the reader attention. Yet, I do find appealing the emphasis that not to mention provides to the entire sentence.– LuisCommented Jan 29, 2019 at 0:19
As long as 'not to mention' is followed by a complete sentence, it's just as good a connector as 'however' or 'in addition'. Also, if 'colloquial' comes from the Latin 'colloquium', meaning conversational, I think it's safe to say 'not to mention' has made it into formal written language, at least here across the pond :). For example, Henry David Thoreau began a sentence with the phrase in "A Plea for Captain John Brown" cited in the Goldman Law Library of Yale Law School,
Not to mention his other successes, was it a failure, or did it show a want of good management, to deliver from bondage a dozen human beings, and walk off with them by broad daylight, for weeks if not months, at a leisurely pace, through one State after another, for half the length of the North, conspicuous to all parties, with a price set upon his head, going into a court-room on his way and telling what he had done, thus convincing Missouri that it was not profitable to try to hold slaves in his neighborhood?
This historical treatise was written in 1859. It's safe to say you can correctly begin a sentence with 'not to mention' as formally as you'd like here in the States.
answered Aug 23, 2021 at 1:31
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**@KillingTime: Thank you for the good edit :). Commented Aug 23, 2021 at 1:55
Not to mention shouldn't start a sentence, at least not when wriitng. They are always used in the middle of sentences, to add on to other sentences.
See these examples:
https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/sentences-with-the-word/not_to_mention.html
A better way to write the second sentence might be:
In addition, I am amazed by its the outstanding returns and ability to consistently outperform more traditional investment vehicles.
Hope this helps.
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Oh, you can start a sentence with it. It's a colloquial construction, after all, and starting a sentence with it happens in real life, as an afterthought. The rules for formal writing don't apply outside the classroom; mostly people just talk. Commented Jan 28, 2019 at 23:58
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Thank you for your quick responses! I really appreciate it. As I understand it would not be correct if I use "Not to mention" at the beginning of a sentence when writing an academic paper?– LuisCommented Jan 29, 2019 at 0:08
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@Luis this answer is incorrect. It appears to be based on a single website result, which is simply a list of examples. Not to mention, there's no link provided to the supposed "rule" [note my correct use of the expression to start this sentence!]. Also, the proposed "better way" to write the sentence has an obvious error. Commented Jan 30, 2019 at 4:51