 #16 (permalink) Thu Feb 28, 2008 10:00 am never met this syntax before... |
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| Mister Micawber wrote: |
| ... akin to 'I swan!' |
:lol:
Hi Alex
Yes, my 'ever' was just playing with MM's 'never'. And, of course, 'Did you ever!' was the expression used in the lyrics Alan posted.
'Did you ever!' is another example of an exclamation that uses 'ever' the way MM and I described. It can be used to affirm that something happened, emphasizing that it happened in a big way.
For example:
A: Did I make a mistake?
B: Did you ever! The boss is going to fire you for it!
A: It rained last week.
B: Did it ever! By Thursday people were boating down my street!
A: Did he win much money?
B: Did he ever! He hit the jackpot -- a million dollars!
Look at the definitions of the word 'ever' here.
By the way, I'd never actually heard the expression "I swan" before, but it certainly was appropriate to the whole context of this thread. :lol:
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