What is a way to say "as you _____ mentioned" where _____ is meant to convey that the person correctly predicted / foreshadowed your response?
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...as you previously mentioned, perhaps.– Andrew Leach ♦Commented Mar 2, 2015 at 16:08
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1You need an adverbial form, but idiomatically it's not really credible to say "as you predictively mentioned" (and foreshadowingly is a complete no-no, obviously). You might consider portentiously, but that generally carries connotations of ominously predicting. Besides which it's a bit "stuffy" (as would be presagiously, presagefully, prefiguratively).– FumbleFingersCommented Mar 2, 2015 at 16:16
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I'd say "as you will have mentioned".– anemoneCommented Mar 2, 2015 at 16:19
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@anemone: Regardless of whether you use simple past or future perfect (or even simple present), nothing about that would particularly imply anticipatory, which OP is specifically interested in.– FumbleFingersCommented Mar 2, 2015 at 16:26
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@FumbleFingers Isn't OP asking for a verb, though? And I'd say "you will have done st." does express a fair level of certainty...– anemoneCommented Mar 2, 2015 at 16:32
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2 Answers
If they actually predicted something beforehand, you could say that they "presciently" mentioned it. To be "prescient" is to see or predict the future.
answered Mar 3, 2015 at 9:29
I skimmed the general area of relevant pre- words in OED, but saw nothing suitable. I'd go for...
As you anticipatively mentioned...
(OED anticipatively: By way of anticipation.)
In most contexts, doing something anticipatively would normally be understood to imply doing it deliberately (with conscious knowledge of a relationship between what you're doing now and what you expect later). There might be a more "passive" equivalent term (i.e. - without those "volitional" implications), but I can't think of one. If it was important to avoid the unwanted connotations, I'd probably use more words: "As you unconsciously anticipated [when you mentioned blah blah]".
Of course, in OP's exact context it's quite likely I wouldn't bother to explicitly reference anything to do with "foreshadowing" since it's contextually obvious. I think I might well prefer...
As you perspicaciously mentioned...
...which peripherally implies "foretellingly" (etymologically, Latin perspicax "sharp-sighted, having the power of seeing through; acute"), in that you (in the past) were able to see through to a future time when your point would be highly relevant.
answered Mar 2, 2015 at 16:22
