qui que ce soit

[Kir88]

On another website is the following example of the usage of the phrase, "non plus que ça".

Cela ne fait pas de lui un travailleur d'usine,
pas plus que ça n'en fait un de moi
ou de ce qui que ce soit d'autre dans cette piece.

The website translates this as,

That doesn't make him a factory worker
any more than it makes me one
or anyone else in this room

However, I am confused about the phrase, "de ce qui que ce soit d'autre". It seems overly complicated. Is it even correct? Could you instead say, "de n'importe qui soit d'autre"?

 

[Salvatos]

The last part should indeed be "ou de ce qui que ce soit d'autre dans cette pièce", but is otherwise correct. You could not say "de n'importe qui soit d'autre" since soit needs a subject (ce), but you could say "de n'importe qui d'autre".

Qui que ce soit and n’importe qui are essentially synonymous but carry a different tone, much like whoever and anyone. The former wouldn’t be a good fit in many places where n’importe qui is used because of how it uses a subjunctive verb. It also feels somewhat more insistent; it’s not just no one else, but none whatsoever.

 

[Kir88]

Thank you, Salvatos.

I realized that I made a couple of mistakes in how I copied the example. I wrote "non plus que ça" instead of "pas plus que ça"; I have edited that. I also wrote "ou de ce qui" instead of "ou de qui", but have not edited that, in order to preserve the validity of your correction. Thank you for your correction.

I don't quite understand the distinction you made between "qui que ce soit d'autre" and "n'importe qui d'autre". Is it this?

de qui que ce soit d'autre dans cette piece = of whomever else may be in this room
de n'import qui d'autre dans cette piece = of anyone else in this room

Thanks again!

 

[Salvatos]

Pretty much! They come down to the same thing, but one is wordier and a bit more insistent about excluding each and every one of the people in the room.