I always thought that it was the first version and that the second one didn't make any sense.
Saying that something isn't "A let alone A+" makes sense when not being A+ is implied in not even being A. Of course it can get confusing when the reader or author isn't quite clear from which end of the spectrum the whole thing gets approached.
Paul Brians on his Common Errors in English site writes the following:
Saying that something isn't "A let alone A+" makes sense when not being A+ is implied in not even being A. Of course it can get confusing when the reader or author isn't quite clear from which end of the spectrum the whole thing gets approached.
Paul Brians on his Common Errors in English site writes the following:
Quote:
I cant remember the title of the book we were supposed to read, let alone the details of the story. In sentences like these you give a lesser example of something first, followed by let alone and then the greater example. But people often get this backwards, and put the greater example first.
The same pattern is followed when the expression is much less: I cant change the oil in my car, much less tune the engine. The speaker can much less well tune the engine than he or she can change the oil.
Another common expression which follows the same pattern uses never mind, as in I cant afford to build a tool shed, never mind a new house.
See also little own.