more often than not

• more often than naught
• more often than nought

Origin obscure. Perhaps an ellipsis of more often than not [often], although this doesn't appear to be very well supported in writing. Alternatively, possibly meaning more often than "zero" (see nought and naught), especially in reference to scales or gauges where mark zero represents the midpoint of measurement or frequency.

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more often than not (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic) Usually; more than half the time; more likely to be the case than not to be the case.

   More often than not, tomato seeds will sprout even if they are a couple of years old.

   • 1962 September, Warren Smith, “The problems of coaching stock rostering and operation”, in Modern Railways, page 193:

     Regular passengers become familiar with their train and attempts to change its make-up or any other aspect of its working are more often than not frowned upon, even though the change is probably for the better.

   • 2020 September 1, Tom Lamont, “The butcher's shop that lasted 300 years (give or take)”, in The Guardian‎:

     he would gather his courage and set out between the columned arches to ask one of the unaccompanied women to partner him. More often than not, their answer was no.

• (in a typical manner): as often as not, commonly, most of the time; see also Thesaurus:usually