More often than not means in most cases. Not always, and more than half the time.
It is a careful phrase, since it claims a majority without claiming a rule, which is why cautious writing prefers it to usually. It sits at the start or the end of a sentence. The construction is a comparison in its own right, weighing the times something happens against the times it does not. Usually and generally do the same job more briefly and rather less precisely.
1phrasemore often than notIn the majority of cases.
“More often than not the bus is late.”
Origin unknown. Semantically equivalent to, and often understood as, an ellipsis of more often than not so. Possibly sometimes understood as more often than zero (see nought and naught), especially in reference to scales or gauges where mark zero represents the midpoint of measurement or frequency.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in A Man Called Ove, Small Talk & Everyday Phrases
First appears in chapter 5 of A Man Called Ove.
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