1. anything but为习语，意为“根本不是”“一点不是, 绝不，根本不”。
I’ll do anything but that. 我绝不会干那种事。
The party was anything but a success. 晚会根本不成功。
The fight is anything but finished. 斗争绝没有结束。
I was anything but happy about going.我一点也不愿意出去。
He was anything but a fool.他根本不是个傻瓜。
I will be anything but quiet on Saturday night!
星期六的晚上我根本静不下心来！
They were anything but friendly off-camera, refusing even to take the same lift.
在银幕外，他们彼此一点也不友好，甚至不愿同乘一部电梯。
注anything but 有时可单独使用。如：
I don’t mean he’s lazy—anything but! 我不是说他懒，他根本不懒。
The Los Angeles police chief was not always so insulated from politicians;anything but.
洛杉矶警察局局长并不总是如此疏远政客，根本不会。
注anything but不仅可用于事物，也可用于人。如：
He is anything but a poet. 他绝不是诗人。
He was anything but polite. 他根本没有一点礼貌。
The hotel was anything but satisfactory. 这家旅馆一点不让人满意。
anything but 不作为一个整体习语是，也可以表示“除了……只能”
这个例句很有意思大家推敲推敲：
It makes it hard for the Fed to do anything but stand pat till the economy'sdirection becomes clearer.
这让美联储几乎无计可施，在经济发展方向明朗之前只好硬挺着。
《柯林斯高阶英汉双解学习词典》
2.nothing but（除……外；什么也没有；只有）后面可接:
(1) 名词或代词：
For miles and miles I could see nothing except (= but) a great fire and lots of smoke. 一连好几英里，除了大火和浓烟我什么也看不见。
Under the soil there is nothing but sand. 在这层土壤下边只有沙子。
I have nothing but praise for the police
我对警方唯有称赞。
He was nothing but skin and bones.
他瘦得只剩皮包骨头了。
This chap likes to exaggerate and is good at nothing but boasting.
这个人言过其实，就会吹牛皮放大炮。
（2）不定式：A cold-blooded animal has no choice but to lie down and sleep. 冷血动物别无选择，只好躺下来睡觉。（注：这种句型中的不定式通常要带to；但当其前面的动词是实义动词do的某种形式，或只有情态动词时，but后面的不定式要省去to。例如：
He did nothing but sleep all day long. 他什么也不干，成天睡觉。
I can but obey it.（= I can do nothing but obey it.）我只能服从。
It did nothing but make us ridiculous
这只是让我们显得很滑稽。
再如：
后接另外一个与前面的谓语结构形式相一致的谓语结构形式，如：
Politeness costs nothing but wins everything. 这是一句谚语，意为彬彬有礼，惠而不费，或者理解为和气生财。
He said nothing but gave me a sly grin that made me feel terribly uneasy
他什么也没说，只是朝我狡黠地笑了笑，这让我感到极其不安。
He said nothing but sat there as if in a trance.
他话也不说，坐在那里发愣。
She said nothing but sat there staring blankly.; She said nothing but sat there as if in a trance.
她话也不说，坐在那里发呆。
