Difference between "have (not) been ALREADY" & "have (not) not been YET".
from The Economist:
"
Quibbles aside, Japan will surely be eclipsed soon, if it has not been already.
"

1.Why here is the form of "have (not) been ALREADY" instead of "have (not) been YET"?
2.Is there any difference between these two forms in emotional coloring? (or anything other difference that influence your feeling when reading the text.)

Original article link: http://www.economist.com/node/16834943?story_id=16834943And...
What does "Quibbles aside" mean? Does it mean "tell you a personal opinion'?Can I comprehend the sentence in this way:
"
My personal opinion is that Japan will surely be eclipsed soon even not being right now.
"
Is it right?I see! Thank you, Eliot!
So, it's actually about the "if...already" grammar rule.

Thank you everyone!
:)

Question

Difference between "have (not) been ALREADY" & "have (not) not been YET".
from The Economist:
"
Quibbles aside, Japan will surely be eclipsed soon, if it has not been already. 
"

1.Why here is the form of "have (not) been ALREADY" instead of "have (not) been YET"?
2.Is there any difference between these two forms in emotional coloring? (or anything other difference that influence your feeling when reading the text.)

Original article link: http://www.economist.com/node/16834943?story_id=16834943And...
What does "Quibbles aside" mean? Does it mean "tell you a personal opinion'?Can I comprehend the sentence in this way:
"
My personal opinion is that Japan will surely be eclipsed soon even not being right now.
"
Is it right?I see!  Thank you, Eliot!
So, it's actually about the "if...already" grammar rule.

Thank you everyone!
:)

Answer

The phrase is perfectly correct. The clue in the "if". In short it says"
"IF NOT ALREADY", i.e "not already". In other words....
If Japan has already been eclipsed, then they won't be eclipsed in the future. 
= Japan will soon be eclipsed, if not already.
Think about what is being said here. It will make sense!

Answer

"if it has not been already" - sounds odd but I believe adverb "already" here functions as an intensifier only (mainly, to express impatience).

other example:

"it this story hasn't been told already, I will tell it."

of course, you can always replace "already" to "yet" to describe a situation that has existed up to this point or up to the present time.  but I believe, the speaker here is rather expressing annoyance for the story being untold yet.

:)

Answer

I think they would both mean, "I have not been, but I plan to." but "I have not been yet." would be correct. "already" does not fit well in this phrase.