"tantamount" = paramount; extremely important

[Jonathan Lighter]

A _Fox & Friends_ anchor (whom I've had occasion to quote several times in the past) asked this a.m., about Princess Di's butler, "What could he have lied about that was so tantamount?"

  126 RG's for phrase "is so tantamount," including 2003 (Usenet: alt.fan.landmark):

  "Since religion is so tantamount in people's lives, there is no way to outlaw it."

  JL


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