As Smart as a Whip?
This week I’m looking at “as-as” construction. We tend to mess this one up a lot because we often say a sentence with this structure incorrectly. When using as-as construction, you have to use as twice—before and after the adjective.
Wrong:
They were thick as thieves.
She’s smart as a whip.
Correct:
They were as thick as thieves.
She’s as smart as a whip.
One exception is: “He did as best he could.” As best is a traditional idiom (according to Bryan Gardner) that substitutes “as good as.”
Hopefully, though, you don’t use these clichés in your writing! And just how smart is a whip anyway?
I saw your as-as item in my Google reader today, and I have linked to it in the text at the end of an article that I published in March 2011. I have used the URL of my article to post this comment. Thank you for your invaluable instruction for writers. Your “Live Write Thrive” is inspiring.
Thanks so much, Owen! I hope you have subscribed so you can get all the weekly posts!
“… how smart is a whip, anyway?”
Have you ever been whipped, that is struck with a whip? Now THAT smarts!