Next to nothing meaning in English

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Definition

next to nothing: practically 0, almost nothing; nearly free, almost without charge idiomadverb

On sale, this dress costs next to nothing. Just $5!

Examples

"As you are probably aware, the current network capacity of the company is next to nothing, hence this handwritten letter."

Exercise 1

"The current network capacity of the company is next to nothing".
What does this mean?

There are no writing materials left at Delavigne.

There are fewer and fewer technicians at Delavigne.

There have been a lot of electrical problems at Delavigne.

There have been problems with the network lately.

I don't know

"The current network capacity of the company is next to nothing".
What does this mean?

There are no writing materials left at Delavigne.

Polly is not referring to a problem with the stationery (pens, pencils, paper, etc.). Polly has actually written this letter by hand, so it's obvious that there are still some pencils, paper, pens, etc.

There are fewer and fewer technicians at Delavigne.

This is incorrect. "Network capacity" refers to the total bandwidth (data transfer), not the technicians who work on the network.

There have been a lot of electrical problems at Delavigne.

Although "current" can sometimes refer to an "electrical current", this definition does not make sense in the context of this sentence. Polly is referring to the lack of working computers at the office.

There have been problems with the network lately.

Because of the problems with the computer network, Polly is saying that there has been very little work done on computers. The expression "next to nothing" refers to a minimal amount or quantity.

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