as far as

[Jonathan Lighter]

Except "as far as X is concerned" is a perfectly standard idiom.

The "is concerned" is now usually dropped in speech (at least hereabouts),
but the resultant "as far as" doesn't go as far as my posted "as far as."

JL

On Mon, Sep 8, 2014 at 11:28 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: as far as
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Here are some examples of the redundant sounding locution "as far as
> a" in the 1800s. To help perform this quick search I further
> specialized the phrase to "useless as far as a". Stylistically, the
> phrase "useless as a" could be substituted for "useless as far as a"
> though it would shift the connotation, I think.
>
> Perhaps the prevalence of the phrase in newscasts has increased.
>
> Year: 1887
> Title: A Text Book of Midwifery
> Author: Otto Spiegelberg (Professor of Obstetric Medecine in the
> University of Breslau)
> Volume: 1
> Translator: J. B. Hurry
> Note: Translated from German Second Edition
> Publisher: The New Sydenham Society
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=aSYJAAAAIAAJ&q=%22far+as+a%22#v=snippet&
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> The remedies recommended are so numerous and so various, that we can
> from this fact alone conclude that they are almost invariably useless,
> as far as a permanent cure is concerned.
> [End excerpt]
>
>
> Year: 1893
> Title: The Breech-loader and How to Use It
> Author: W. W. Greener (William Wellington Greener)
> Edition: Second
> Quote Page: 56
> Publisher: Forest and Stream Publishing Company, New York
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> As a matter of fact, the English Government Proof House test, which is
> even the most severe of any country, has long been useless as far as a
> guarantee of the gun's safety is concerned. Guns and barrels brought
> direct from the proof house . . .
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 8, 2014 at 8:25 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      as far as
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > First there was "is is" = 'is'.'
> >
> > Now comes "as far as" = 'as.'
> >
> > CNN: "It was incredibly stupid as far as a business communication."
> >
> > You can define it also as "for; in terms of being."
> >
> > JL
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
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> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



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