Soonest = as soon as

[Laurence Horn]

At 8:44 PM -0400 8/20/07, Wilson Gray wrote:
>I agree with A. I've long heard "'soonest" in the meaning, "as soon as
>possible." I have the *very* vague impression that it started out as a
>Briticism. That is to say, I don't think that I've ever heard it in
>the wild, but I'm very familiar with it from TV and movies.
>
>-Wilson

I agree; more "ASAP" than "as soon as", and there's something of
telegraphese about it.

LH

>
>On 8/20/07, sagehen <sagehen at westelcom.com> wrote:
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       sagehen <sagehen at WESTELCOM.COM>
>>  Subject:      Re: Soonest = as soon as
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  >Has anyone ever heard or seen "soonest" used to mean "as soon as?" I saw
>>  >it used a few times today by someone from California, possibly a second
>>  >language learner.
>>  >
>>  >Scot
>>  >~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>  As a synonym for asap, it's pretty common.  I don't think I've ever heard
>>  (or read) it used "as soon as..." anything other than "possible."
>>  It certainly isn't confined to ESL speakers.
>>  AM
>>
>>
>>  ~@:>   ~@:>   ~@:>   ~@:>
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