as ADJ of a N as

[Your Name]

On Fri, 20 Feb 2004, Beverly Flanigan wrote:

>I think Arnold is right about the split in attitudes toward this
>usage. I've never used the "of a" structure and don't like it, ...

Ditto here for the "as ADJ of a N as".  (That sort of split in awareness is pretty common, isn't it?  Who would say "I could care less" to mean "I couldn't care less" if he were paying the least bit of attention?)

The "too ADJ of a N" comes rather easily, so I guess I have heard it a lot, tho if I caught myself saying or writing it I would drop the "of", e.g., "he's too nice (of) a guy to do that".

Seán Fitzpatrick
(Grew up in Chevy Chase, MD in the '50s)