"The Plaza hotel is as near as it gets to the best shopping along New York's famous Fifth Avenue." Whats the meaning of this sentence?and what does as-as means here?
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@FumbleFingers : thnx– rzaCommented Jul 14, 2015 at 12:56
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You're welcome. I imply no criticism of you for failing to find the earlier question before asking (if you didn't already know the usage, how would it occur to you to search for "as good as..."?) But you might consider using English Language Learners for future questions, where you're more likely to get an answer covering all aspects of such usages that might be confusing to non-native speakers (for example, What does "it" mean here?).– FumbleFingersCommented Jul 14, 2015 at 13:09
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@FumbleFingers: That's probably not what it actually means (but there's no way you could tell this without knowing something about New York). What I think it means is that there aren't any other good hotels that are as close in distance to "the best shopping along New York's Fifth Avenue." The Plaza hotel is at Fifth and 58th. Wikipedia says the most upscale shopping is on Fifth between 49th and 60th.– Peter ShorCommented Jul 14, 2015 at 14:08
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@Peter: oic. Well, in that case I'd say as near as it gets is even more of an "uncommon" usage than I originally thought. I'd probably have gone for as near as you can get to [some desirable location].– FumbleFingersCommented Jul 14, 2015 at 15:21
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as near as it gets to is usually an idiom that means most similar to. But this sentence seems to be using it more literally, to mean that the hotel is physically close to the shopping areas.– BarmarCommented Jul 15, 2015 at 18:30
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