も - softening nuance

[raikado]

Hello,

Some time ago I asked what the purpose of も was in もうじき嵐も過ぎるだろう, and the answer was that it softens the nuance of が or は. {LINK}

Consider this sentence: チーズが好物とよく思われているが実際はそうでもない。
As far as I know, 実際はそうでもない translates to "that's not really the case", which seems like a softened version of "that's not the case".
So I was wondering... Is this an example of the same "softening nuance" that I encountered in the first sentence?

 

[Toritoribe]

Yes, I think so. As for your case, そうではない is a strong negation, so it denies that the subject likes cheese, i.e., the nuance is closer to "the subject dislikes cheese". On the other hand, そうでもない means そんなに好物でも/好きでもない, so it's closer to "cheese is not a favorite food, but it's not like that the subject dislikes it."
Off the topic, but is that sentence an explanation about mouse/rat, maybe?

 

[raikado]

Thanks! And yes, the sentence is talking about mice.

 

[mdchachi]

Thanks! And yes, the sentence is talking about mice.

Does there by chance happen to be three of them? And are they blind?

 

[raikado]

Does there by chance happen to be three of them? And are they blind?

No. And these ones still have their tails too.