as such 'therefore'

[sagehen]

>People have thoroughly covered *as such* meaning 'therefore' on the list,
>but I
>just wanted to add to the mix the fact that I once knew someone for whom that
>meaning of *as such* was so ingrained that he seemed able to use it in all
>sentence positions, and in particular sentence-finally.  (I noticed that at
>least most of the examples from various sources that were quoted yesterday had
>it clause-initially, with the 'consequence' following *as such*: eg (synopsis)
>'Hustlers often had roommates [...] as such, they would practise their trade
>[away from home]'.)
>
>The first time I was really struck by this guy's sentence-final *as such*
>was in
>a situation like the following:
>
>[We had a fairly large group of people and were looking for a place where we
>could all fit in to sit down and have a drink;  as it was Friday night,
>getting
>seats for such a large number of people in a city-centre pub wasn't easy.
>There
>was one pub we hadn't tried:]
>
>'I suppose we could try the Mitre, as such.'
>
>As it appears on the page, this *as such* could seem as if it meant 'as an
>example of something previously mentioned', but there was no such referent to
>refer back to in the context, so I assume that this must be *as such* =
>'therefore'.
>
>Damien Hall
>University of Pennsylvania
~~~~~~~~~
I've noticed this same usage in dialogue in British fiction & on British tv
series.  Often it appears as a qualifier to a negative answer to a
question.  "Not, as such."
The earnest, feather-brained companion/dogsbody/sexton(?) in the tv
series"Vicar of Di___?" (can't quite bring up the name)  seemed to drop in
"as such" every couple of lines.  Usually it appears in places where
"exactly" or "actually" might have been used by an American speaker.
A. Murie