"As far as . . ."

[Charles Doyle]

Have we (i.e. on this list) discussed the use of unresolved "as far as"--such as exemplified by Larry's sentence quoted below? That is, introductory "as far as" without "is concerned" or "goes" or the like occurring later in the phrasing? Is the construction somewhat new (like a couple decades)? Does that use of "as far as" derive, historically, from a confusion with "as for"?  I hear and read the construction all the time, and I no longer find it objectionable--but I DO still notice it!

--Charlie
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>>As far as the unstressed "ex", that also comes up in the variation between "EXquisite" and "exQUISite"; even AHD4, which only gives the antepenult variant for "expletive", gives both for "exquisite", although it "favors" the antepenult version (which I'd wager is considerably the rarer of the two in actual usage).
>>
>>LH

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