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Is it reasonable to say: "This is going to be the most amazing day by so far!" ? I mean the "by so far" part. English is not my first language, but I caught myself typing so and started wondering where did I get that from. It's just without the "by" I feel like something is missing.

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There's nothing wrong with asking if you didn't know, but as @John's answer makes clear, there's nothing to be gained by looking any deeper. So I'm voting to close as "general reference". – FumbleFingers Dec 17 '11 at 0:40
Don't agree with you, the answer actually is pretty interesting and might come in handy for someone else too. – Richards Jan 12 '12 at 9:46
As implied, my vote to close doesn't mean I don't think the question should never have been asked - and I certainly wouldn't vote to delete it. But to my mind John's answer says just about everything that needs to be said, so there's no point in leaving it open in hopes of a better one coming alone later. – FumbleFingers Jan 12 '12 at 16:51
What's the point of just closing questions because they have been answered? I picked the right answer and imo it's equal to closing the questions as only dumb people would post their answers here if they see that this questions is already answered and the answer has 8 upvotes. – Richards Jan 13 '12 at 11:52
I wouldn't vote to close a question simply because it's been answered, even if I thought the answer was "perfect" and could never be improved upon. But this one is a simple case of conflating two different "set phrases". Bear in mind the question itself has only attracted one upvote - I think that's because although the answer may be helpful to you personally, it's not something that a lot of other people see as interesting. – FumbleFingers Jan 13 '12 at 17:36
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2 Answers

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No. You're conflating two idioms with far:

  1. By far modifies comparatives and superlatives, and indicates that the degree to which they exceed other compared things is very, very great. This is the best one by far.

  2. So far is a distance measurement meaning as far as this. It's often used with the TIME is DISTANCE metaphor theme to mean up until now. This is the best one so far.

Since this is a superlative expression, you can use by far; since it means up until now, you could also use so far. Either one works.

But you can't use them together. Pick one.

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Totally makes sense now! – Richards Dec 16 '11 at 23:29
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The most amazing day so far means 'up to now'; the most amazing day by far means 'much the best'; your example is ambiguous. I wouldn't say it's ungrammatical (by such a long way, meaning the same, would be a weak phrase, but certainly not wrong), but it's not good.

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