Timeline for how to understand "as ~ as ever"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2, 2013 at 13:23 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | Yes, I meant only this particular wording (with ever before the nexus and the simple past instead of the perfect, combined with the determinative use of “as smart”). | |
| Sep 2, 2013 at 13:21 | comment | added | TrevorD | @JanusBahsJacquet I thought you meant either that some of the words are archaic and/or that this type of expression is archaic. But if you're now saying that "As smart as anything he’d ever heard" is OK, it appears you're commenting on the particular phraseology of the quoted expression, but that similar expressions are OK. | |
| Sep 2, 2013 at 7:08 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | @TrevorD, if not archaic then at least quite formal and literary. I can think of few people who would in natural speech use sentence patterns like this—I myself would certainly always say, “As smart as anything he’d ever heard” in normal speech. | |
| Sep 1, 2013 at 23:30 | comment | added | TrevorD | @JanusBahsJacquet Why is the language in the question considered archaic? | |
| Sep 1, 2013 at 13:22 | comment | added | StoneyB on hiatus | @JanusBahsJacquet There is a degree of prejudice against 'literary' texts at ELL, especially texts written more than about 20 years ago. The prejudice is grounded in a fear that learning will be irreparably damaged by exposure to English that is not 'everyday' and ELL will by publishing such English abandon its fundamental identity. | |
| Sep 1, 2013 at 9:58 | comment | added | Listenever | @JanusBahsJacquet, Thank you very much. I've just read the 'ever' in CGEL - non-affirmative item in comparative constructions - and so yours is quite understandable. | |
| Sep 1, 2013 at 9:49 | vote | accept | Listenever | ||
| Sep 1, 2013 at 9:22 | comment | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | Why the downvote? Despite the fact that this question may seem quite simplistic (and as such perhaps a better fit for English Language Learners), it actually does contain some interesting points and archaic language. | |
| Sep 1, 2013 at 9:19 | answer | added | Janus Bahs Jacquet | timeline score: 7 | |
| Sep 1, 2013 at 8:10 | answer | added | Barrie England | timeline score: 2 | |
| Sep 1, 2013 at 7:59 | history | asked | Listenever | CC BY-SA 3.0 |