as far as

[Wilson Gray]

Jon, as far as youth, it's wasted on the young.



On Mon, Sep 8, 2014 at 11:39 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: as far as
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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:
>
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> > 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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>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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-- 
-Wilson
-----
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-Mark Twain

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