Timeline for The meaning of the phrase "much as"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
6 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Sep 10, 2013 at 18:49 | vote | accept | CommunityBot | ||
| Sep 10, 2013 at 16:24 | comment | added | BobRodes | Now you're managing to run the two meanings together a little bit. This sentence is a bit ambiguous, because "as much as" can mean "much as" in the first sense or a statement of equivalence. Removing the first "as" would resolve in favor of meaning 1; changing the word order would resolve in favor of meaning 2: "I hate chocolate as much as I like chocolate cake." To say "I hate chocolate much as I like chocolate cake" wouldn't make a great deal of sense; you're saying that your hatred of chocolate and your liking of chocolate cake are similar. | |
| Sep 10, 2013 at 15:50 | comment | added | user1555 | Wouldn't my sentence also convey this meaning? "As much as I like chocolate cake, I hate chocolate"? | |
| Sep 10, 2013 at 15:37 | comment | added | BobRodes | Well, in this case, what is your hating of chocolate similar to? Nothing. So this is meaning one: although I hate chocolate I can't resist the cake. I hate chocolate much as I hate strawberries is meaning two: I hate chocolate and I also hate strawberries. | |
| Sep 10, 2013 at 15:29 | comment | added | user1555 | Thank you. The problem is that it might not always be that obvious. For example consider this sentence: "Much as I hate chocolate, I can't resist a chocolate cake!" | |
| Sep 10, 2013 at 15:05 | history | answered | BobRodes | CC BY-SA 3.0 |