"as bad of a"

bbeeton
Senior Lexiterian
Posts: 552
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2020 11:34 am
Location: Providence, RI

"as bad of a"

Postby bbeeton » Thu Jan 12, 2023 1:20 pm

Recently, I've been seeing or hearing comparisons phrased like this:
"this is about as bad of a natural disaster ..."
(from a news report about the California rains), where I wouldn't use "of". The formula seems to be "an x of a y".

Is this usage increasing, or is it just my imagination?

I tried to determine whether this had already been discussed, but my attempts to search for a phrase failed miserably. Is that possible, and if so, how?

Audiendus
Wordmaster
Posts: 909
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2010 6:08 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: "as bad of a"

Postby Audiendus » Sat Jan 14, 2023 9:28 pm

I haven't heard 'as x of a y', but 'a[n] x of a y' is used in such phrases as 'a giant of a man', 'a monster of a storm' etc. And of course 'a hell of a [thing]'.

bbeeton
Senior Lexiterian
Posts: 552
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2020 11:34 am
Location: Providence, RI

Re: "as bad of a"

Postby bbeeton » Sun Jan 15, 2023 1:58 pm

Thank you for catching my mistaken formula. It should be "as x of a y".

Of course, "an x of a y" works, as your excellent examples of its use demonstrate.

I suppose the "of" in the construction to which I object has taken hold by (spurious) analogy.


Return to “Idioms”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests