what is the purpose of the "not" in this sentence? this is the first time i have seen anything like this

Near to, but less than 10 minutes ago

In this context it means the same as "fewer than"

it’s an idiomatic use of “not,” to emphasize how recent an event was. for example: “mary died, not two hours after she had been seen working in her garden.”

Oh man, this one really sucks for non-native speakers. The negative isn't being used as a negative, but to add emphasis??

Since everyone's already explained it, I'mma just leave this comment here to say that I love this game very much lol.

"less than". It means that ten minutes haven't passed since the event.

The same as "not even". Omitting "even" in this context might be somewhat regional. I can't recall it used much where I've lived (California and New England), and I probably recognize it mostly from movies.

Fewer than.

"Not ten minutes ago" in this case would be "not more than ten minutes ago" or "in the last ten minutes"

The guy got shot less than ten minutes ago. it's just a different, perhaps more literary, way of saying "less than" in this context

Close to, but not, 10 minutes ago. The negation of the timeframe is used by Tenpenny similarly to “it was only but a thing” or “we need only salt”

Agree with other commenters. Worst comes to worst, add a comma: A police officer, not ten minutes ago… If it’s closed caption, many of the more affordable companies just type out words and barely pay attention to punctuation. I used to freelance them. Those were the most difficult.

It means “10 minutes ago” and any time longer than that is false. Because it was less than that. So, “not equal to.”

Also, the purpose is for emphasizing the next phrase. “Not” 10 minutes ago. It could be used for any countable or even uncountable situation. It doesn’t have to be time. The child ate not one cookie, even though the adults said he could. The girls face was not one shade lighter than the palest white when the ghoulish laugh scared her.

It means less than 10 minutes ago

less then 10 minutes ago

it does NOT add up to ten minutes, so less than that

I think it's bad English (because it's more slang than clarity). Anyhow, it means less than. Even though people can misconstrue this to be anything but 10 mins.

They shortened it a lot. The original phrase is "no more than 10 minutes ago" which means 10 or fewer minutes ago. Over time, this phrase got shortened to "not even 10 minutes ago" but this game shortened it further, to "not 10 minutes ago"

It was LESS than 10 minutes ago. Not even 10 minutes ago, it was less than that.

Oh man. This post has been up not ten hours and already people are pulling the expression apart with not the slightest consideration for what others have written. Not one of you has an ounce of respect. Not a single speck. Just kidding. I did want to show several examples at once though. Not that I’m trying to make excuses, but there’s not a court in the land that would convict someone of not doing something.

Happened less than ten minutes ago

GTA San Andreas is an absolute slam dunk English learning experience I ain’t even gon lie

love this game like the best way to learn ghetto slang

After reading the comments, maybe there's a US/UK thing but I don't see this as negation. It could quite easily have happened *exactly* 10 minutes ago. For me the usage is to emphasise that the time gap was surprising or unexpected in the context. "You mean someone was murdered near here just/only/not 10 minutes ago, and we were totally unaware?"

Can also be “Less than”

I will agree with the people explaining that it is not simply equivalent to 'not even' or 'less than', but *this specific kind of use* is meant to emphasize the recency of an event.

"It hasn't even been ten minutes yet and already" It stresses the fact that the event was unexpectedly quick. Sometimes it will be expressed as "not even"

It means that it happened less than ten minutes ago. To me this phrasing suggests that the ten minute mark might not be literal. The phrasing is more about impact than about the exact timeframe, but the ten minute reference should be close if not literal.

Not signifies "less than" in this context.

You are running low on irrelevant exuses why we should avoid basic grammar principles. Also, you are writing a book in every comment so far. Newbies to the language should be taught the correct grammar. Correct dictionary. This is not a matter of discussion. Also, don't use examples of dialects to justify putting negations where they don't belong. British and American english aren't relevant to this discussion.

It's short for "not even" or "less than", but I've even seen "not but", though that's less common.

It's for emphasis, like saying "ten f\*cking minutes ago"

the real question here is why pulaski shot that officer?

As others have said, “not ten minutes ago” means “not even ten minutes ago” or “less than ten minutes ago.” But there are subtle differences. To my ear, the phrase emphasizes that the period of time is short, and unexpectedly so. “Less than ten minutes ago” doesn’t have the same implication. In context here, “not ten minutes ago” drives home that Officer Pulaski barely missed witnessing the shooting. “Not ten minutes” is higher register than “not even ten minutes.” It’s bot something that one police officer would say to another, but it’s one of several elements that lend this sentence a sense of drama. (I’d also point out the pause to address Officer Pulaski mid-sentence instead of at the beginning, and the use of “gun down” instead of “shoot,” and the effective use of the passive voice to focus attention on the gun instead of on an anonymous shooter. It’s a surprisingly well-crafted sentence for video game exposition.)

I never thought I would see GTA San Andreas on this sub lol.

meaning not that long ago

"less than"

Lots of people saying it's equivalent to "less than." It's more equivalent to the adverbs "just" or "only" to add emphasis on the immediacy or limitation of the situation.

It's like saying "not even." The officer was shot less than ten minutes ago. 

He was shot. The time that has passed since is not ten minutes. Logically, that could mean he was shot 9 minutes ago or 11 minutes ago. But the understanding of the phase is to impart the more unlikely time. So the understanding is he was shot less than 10 minutes ago.

As an example of “fewer than“, it also expresses a slight surprise or intensity at how recently it happened. For example, if you had moved to a new town three days earlier and someone asked you if you could give them directions to a specific street, you might tell them: “Oh, sorry. I’m new here. I moved in not even a week ago.”

I see it as “not even” without “even”.

You could also say "Just 10 minutes ago"

Basically saying it happened very recently. Less than 10 minutes

It has not yet been 1 minutes

In this context, it means "fewer than" or "almost but not quite" ten minutes ago.