Such as it was

Posted by Smokey Stover on October 01, 2008 at 05:03

In Reply to: Such as it was posted by Lex on September 30, 2008 at 09:05:

: What does it mean if someone says..."such as it was", in a sentence like "We got it and read it, such as it was."?

Your sentence is a perfect example of the way the phrase is used. Here it means "In the condition that it was," or "Just exactly as it was," or possibly "to the degree that it was [something]" with a disparagement intended. "He let me have his old sweater, such as it was," means that it wasn't much of a sweater. "He translated his talk into German, such as it was, for the occasion"--that is, not very good German.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines this use of the phrase as "having the character that he (it) has, no more and no less; used chiefly with a depreciatory or contemptuous reference, or apologetically", and traces this usage back to around 1240.
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• Such as it was Victoria S Dennis 01/October/08
  • Such as it was Smokey Stover 02/October/08