as well as any

Posted by Smokey Stover on April 09, 2009 at 18:20

In Reply to: as well as any posted by Victoria S Dennis on April 09, 2009 at 08:18:

: : I want to know what is the meaning of this phrase: as well as any
: : e.g.They understood presidential politics as well as any in the country.
: : How does this phrase come about? Can any one give me other examples? Thanks a lot!

: The core phrase here is not "as well as any" but "as well as". You could also say "They understood presidential politics as well as I do" or "as well as we all do" or, if you were being sarcastic, "as well as a donkey does". In the example you quote, "any" is just a (slightly literary) substitute for "anyone". (VSD)

Victoria has plainly decoded the sentence correctly. But it is not what I would call a fully literate sentence. You can't just throw in any old "any" unless the context makes it perfectly clear what "any" modifies. The writer needed only to say "anyone" instead of "any," and his sentence would have been unambiguous--and fully literate.

I don't think you need further examples. Just make sure in your own sentences that "any" modifies something specific, whether it is a previous referent (that is, an antecendent) or a noun which it precedes diretly. "Anyone" is an unambiguous way of saying "any person." "Any," here, is the modifier of a pronoun, which in this case is as good as a noun.
SS

I'm a great fan of ellipsis, but a greater fan of clarity.
SS

• as well as any Smokey Stover 09/April/09