[Ads-l] as well = either

[Wilson Gray]

> I'd precede with "also" or end with "too".

I'd end with "too."

On Tue, Nov 5, 2019 at 9:25 PM Stanton McCandlish <smccandlish at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I suspect the 1884 quote ("[I]t's such a good thing the other one isn't bad
> as well.") means 'It's such a good thing the other one isn't also bad',
> though in theory it could mean "Additionally, it's such a good thing the
> other one isn't bad', depending on the surrounding context. But it may not
> be an unrelated sort of construction, and this type could even be the
> origin of the odd "as well = either" sense.  Even in the 1884 passage, only
> two things seem to be under consideration, a situation that would often
> call for "[n]either".  (That said, I don't think I would use "either" in
> the case of the 1884 sentence; for me, the word is more comparative and not
> really used that way. I'd precede with "also" or end with "too".]
>
> Just the relative frequency of "as well" in BrEng versus AmEng makes me
> wonder if this is a Briticism that is porting over via BBC.  I don't find
> an entry about it at Ben Yagoda's https://notoneoffbritishisms.com/
> (yet?).
>
> --
> Stanton McCandlish
> McCandlish Consulting
> 5400 Foothill Blvd Suite B
> Oakland CA 94601-5516
>
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>
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>
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 5, 2019 at 5:32 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I haven't checked the OED, because even if it's there, it's still worthy
> of
> > comment.
> >
> > For some years - maybe five, maybe less, just guessing - I've been
> noticing
> > cable news anchors using "as well" in negative contexts where I can use
> > *only* "either."  It's extremely common: it's been a very long time
> since I
> > heard a CNN journalist use "either" in such contexts. (And yes, I *have*
> > been paying attention.)
> >
> > Excellent Internet ex.,albeit from Malaysia:
> >
> > "Facility wise, I can't say much about it as it wasn't so good but it
> isn't
> > bad as well.
> >
> > A Google search for the phrase "isn't bad either" turns up 1.3 million
> raw
> > hits.
> >
> > "Isn't bad as well" gets 470,000.  Not to be sneezed at, weird as it is.
> >
> > At Google Books, "isn't bad as well" gets a single hit - from an English
> > story for children (1884):
> >
> > "Well, sir, it's such a good thing the other one isn't bad as well."
> >
> > 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
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 
-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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