Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
as rich as to buy
English answer:
rich enough to buy
Added to glossary by
Jack Doughty
Jan 9, 2008 20:37
16 yrs ago
English term
Jeremyjoe
as rich as to buy
Non-PRO
English
Social Sciences
Poetry & Literature
1. He is as rich as to buy a porche.
2. He is so rich as to buy a porche.
I'm writing a short story (a paragraph) and a friend of mine says number 1 is incorrect ans suggests the second one. Just out of curiosity. Is it worng?
2. He is so rich as to buy a porche.
I'm writing a short story (a paragraph) and a friend of mine says number 1 is incorrect ans suggests the second one. Just out of curiosity. Is it worng?
Responses
| 4 +10 | rich enough to buy |
Jack Doughty
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| 3 +7 | rich enough to buy |
Mihaela Ghiuzeli
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| 3 | second one is common |
Nesrin
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Change log
Jan 23, 2008 08:25: Jack Doughty Created KOG entry
Responses
+10
3 mins
Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
&
English
Specializes in field
United Kingdom
Translator since 1953
Native in: English
Works in: Russian to English, German to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
518
Selected
rich enough to buy
Both are incorrect. It should be:
He is rich enough to buy a Porsche.
(Note the spelling of Porsche and the fact that it starts with a capital letter).
He is rich enough to buy a Porsche.
(Note the spelling of Porsche and the fact that it starts with a capital letter).
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
+7
2 mins
Mihaela Ghiuzeli
Specializes in field
A Passion for Words and Research
Native in: Romanian
Works in: Romanian to English, English to Romanian
Related KudoZ points
:
8
rich enough to buy
.
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Note added at 5 mins (2008-01-09 20:42:52 GMT)
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incorrect in both cases.
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Note added at 5 mins (2008-01-09 20:42:52 GMT)
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incorrect in both cases.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Agnieszka Hayward (X)
: definitely, also agree with your added note. :)
5 mins
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Thank you tygru.
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| agree |
katsy
7 mins
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Thank you katsy.
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| agree |
Ali Bayraktar
18 mins
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Thank you.
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| agree |
JaneTranslates
1 hr
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Thank you Jane Translates.
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| agree |
airmailrpl
: -
1 hr
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Thank you airmailrpl.
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| agree |
ErichEko ⟹⭐
1 day 5 hrs
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Thank you Erich. I also appreciate that you look at the posting order.
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| agree |
V_Nedkov
2 days 3 hrs
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Thank you V.Nedkova.
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17 mins
second one is common
The second construction seems to be very common, as a search with the adjective "rich" and other adjectives reveals.
Tbc soil in general is so rich as to require no manure. It is a pure black mould, free from stones, and of a very tenacious unctuous nature. ...
books.google.com/books?id=cukGAAAAQAAJ...
Bio Piracy
... twenty years that a patent lasts; a few may become so rich as to cause cultural dislocation, with a second episode to follow when the riches run out. ...
www.stallman.org/articles/biopiracy.html - 6k - Cached - Similar pages
Who Pays for the Stealings of the Ring?
Our hope, however, for the future, is in what is now the ruling class in all countries -the great middle class-who are not so rich as to be luxurious and ...
query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00616FA3A5A1B7493C4A81782D85F458784F9
But I think it would sound better if you said "so rich as to ENABLE HIM to buy"
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Note added at 15 hrs (2008-01-10 11:45:02 GMT)
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My answer may sound as if I make my suggestion based on the number of Google hits alone. But I've only made the search when I felt that this expression "so [adjective] as to" sounded very familiar to me, then closely looked at the search results and found the expression to be used on a number of respectable publications. BTW I'm not trying to argue with English native speakers that it's correct when they're saying it's not. But here are some more examples I've found (please note they're carefully selected Google hits). I do have a doubt - can it be that in the examples below "so [adj] as to..." does not express the same idea of "[adj] enough to..." as in the sentence in your question?
From "A Tale of the Ragged Mountains" by Edgar Allan Poe
"By a frequent repetition of these, a result had arisen, which of late days has become so common as to attract little or no attention"
http://www.classic-literature.co.uk/american-authors/19th-ce...
As he points out it is big – but not so big as to be impersonal, and clearly local people have been sharing the sense of trauma. ...
www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/gary_duffy/
"I am bound to say that in all the accounts which you have been so good as to give of my own small achievements you have habitually underrated your own ...
sherlock-holmes.classic-literature.co.uk/the-hound-of-the-baskervilles/
Tbc soil in general is so rich as to require no manure. It is a pure black mould, free from stones, and of a very tenacious unctuous nature. ...
books.google.com/books?id=cukGAAAAQAAJ...
Bio Piracy
... twenty years that a patent lasts; a few may become so rich as to cause cultural dislocation, with a second episode to follow when the riches run out. ...
www.stallman.org/articles/biopiracy.html - 6k - Cached - Similar pages
Who Pays for the Stealings of the Ring?
Our hope, however, for the future, is in what is now the ruling class in all countries -the great middle class-who are not so rich as to be luxurious and ...
query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00616FA3A5A1B7493C4A81782D85F458784F9
But I think it would sound better if you said "so rich as to ENABLE HIM to buy"
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 hrs (2008-01-10 11:45:02 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
My answer may sound as if I make my suggestion based on the number of Google hits alone. But I've only made the search when I felt that this expression "so [adjective] as to" sounded very familiar to me, then closely looked at the search results and found the expression to be used on a number of respectable publications. BTW I'm not trying to argue with English native speakers that it's correct when they're saying it's not. But here are some more examples I've found (please note they're carefully selected Google hits). I do have a doubt - can it be that in the examples below "so [adj] as to..." does not express the same idea of "[adj] enough to..." as in the sentence in your question?
From "A Tale of the Ragged Mountains" by Edgar Allan Poe
"By a frequent repetition of these, a result had arisen, which of late days has become so common as to attract little or no attention"
http://www.classic-literature.co.uk/american-authors/19th-ce...
As he points out it is big – but not so big as to be impersonal, and clearly local people have been sharing the sense of trauma. ...
www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/gary_duffy/
"I am bound to say that in all the accounts which you have been so good as to give of my own small achievements you have habitually underrated your own ...
sherlock-holmes.classic-literature.co.uk/the-hound-of-the-baskervilles/
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
JaneTranslates
: Obviously, it exists; you found it! But I don't like it.//The new examples, with other adjectives, don't grate on my ear as much as the ones with rich, but I don't know why. I would write "-- enough to --" in all cases, though.
59 mins
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I trust you! But I thought it's worth pointing out that it's very common. The search results indicate that it's used by native speakers, but it may be colloquial...// Please check my added note, I'm still trying to make sense of this.
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| neutral |
David Moore (X)
: But they are both incorrect. I agree with JaneTranslates; just because it's in google doesn't mean it has to be posted if YOU feel it's wrong: what about the trillions of misspellings in google, eh? Acomodation, etc.??
12 hrs
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A misspelling is a misspelling. But when an expression is used so often, even in respectable publications produced in English speaking countries, then I think it must be considered, even if it's not traditionally "correct". //Pls check my added note, thx.
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| neutral |
Cilian O'Tuama
: yours (IMO correct) is a different usage, but that would take (me) an age to explain. // As I say, yours is different usage and is okay, as is e.g. "is so rich as to be able to afford ..."
1 day 4 hrs
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I guess for now I'll have to be satisfied with the knowledge that there is an explanation! :-) I too feel that "so rich as to buy" doesn't SOUND right, while the examples I've quoted sound right, but why? Maybe some day you can share your explanation!
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