把數量或程度壓到接近零
最常見的一支，也是那隻手最原始的動作：壓的是多少、是程度、是次數。
r · C2
Almost not, or almost none at all. It says that something is true only to a very small degree, or that there is very little of something, or that something almost never happens.
幾乎不；幾乎沒有
核心畫面
One way to hold it: scarcely is a hand pushing a sentence down towards zero, and stopping just before it gets there. How much? Almost none. How often? Almost never. How long between two events? Almost no time. Is that true? Almost certainly not. The picture never changes; only what is being pushed down changes.
可以想成：scarcely 是一隻手，把句子往「零」的方向壓下去，壓到快碰到，但沒有真的碰到。有多少？幾乎沒有。多常…更多收起
可以想成：scarcely 是一隻手，把句子往「零」的方向壓下去，壓到快碰到，但沒有真的碰到。有多少？幾乎沒有。多常發生？幾乎從不。兩件事隔多久？幾乎沒有間隔。這句話成立嗎？幾乎可以說不成立。畫面一直是同一個，變的只是被壓下去的東西。From the word’s history
The source analyses scarcely as scarce + -ly (Middle English scarsly, scarsliche).
來源資料把 scarcely 拆成 scarce（稀少的）加 -ly。可以順著想：scarce 講的是東西少到不好找，加上 -ly 之後，少的不再是東西，而是一件事成立的程度。
Wiktionary (kaikki extract), scarcely: 'From Middle English scarcely, scarsly … equivalent to scarce + -ly.'
Three branches
把兩件事之間的時間壓到接近零
同一隻手改壓時間。被壓到幾乎沒有的，是前一件事和後一件事中間的那段空隙。
r · C2
Only a moment before. It is used with 'when' to say that one thing had only just happened before the next thing happened.
才剛…就…
把一句話成立的可能壓到接近零
手再往上移一層，壓的不是事情本身，而是「這樣說得通嗎」。壓到幾乎不成立，就成了很客氣的否定。
r · C2
Certainly not, or almost certainly not. The speaker uses it to say quietly that something is not true, not fair, or not sensible, while sounding as if they are only making a small point.
實在算不上；恐怕不是