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Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

as much as

English answer:

but rather

Added to glossary by Ana Juliá
Nov 13, 2015 11:00
8 yrs ago
English term

as much as

English Art/Literary Religion About the book of Job
24:1–25 Job has persisted in arguing against his friends’ assertion that the wicked are judged transparently and immediately on earth, but he also clings to his belief in the justice of God as the ground for his lament and hope for vindication. In this part of his speech, Job wishes that God’s governing of the world would be more apparent (v. 1). He offers a further description of the acts of the wicked (vv. 2–4, 9, 13–17, 21), the consequences on their victims (vv. 5–12), the seeming blindness of his friends to this reality (vv. 18–20), and the lack of any apparent judgment (vv. 22–25). Job does not address God in this response, nor does he seem necessarily to be responding directly to his friends ***as much as*** he is speaking exhaustedly in their presence.

Does it mean "he adresses neither God nor his friends in spite of speaking a lot before them" here, or: "he adresses neither God nor his friends; he just talks and talks before them"?
Responses
4 +10 but rather
4 +1 even though
3 +1 see explanation

Responses

+10
1 hr
Selected

but rather

...but rather is speaking at length in their presence

not "whining" as Terry put it but ..

HE's making a SPEECH

Anyway, yes, he is not directly addressing hs friends...speaking TO them or responding to God but is talking a lot nevertheless...making a specch and giving his views on the various matters

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Note added at 1 hr (2015-11-13 12:18:21 GMT)
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http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english...
no 4. here
used to introduce an idea that is different or opposite to the idea that you have stated previously
The walls were not white, but rather a sort of dirty grey.

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Note added at 7 hrs (2015-11-13 18:37:58 GMT)
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and here's "not so much as"
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/not-so-mu...
If you say that something is not so much one thing as something ​else, you ​mean it is more the second thing:

They're not so much ​lovers as ​friends. =(They're more friends than lovers=They're friends more so than lovers=They're not lovers but rather friends)


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Note added at 3 days1 hr (2015-11-16 12:15:26 GMT) Post-grading
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Glad to have helped
Peer comment(s):
agree Charles Davis : Yes; not so much responding directly to them as speaking exhaustedly in their presence.
9 mins
Thanks:-) Yes, it's probably an awkward construction to understand for non-natives
agree AllegroTrans
1 hr
Thanks:-)
agree Margarida Martins Costelha
1 hr
Thanks:-)
agree Andrew Bramhall
1 hr
Thanks:-)
agree Sheila Wilson
2 hrs
Thanks:-)
agree Loreta Saddi
2 hrs
Thanks:-)
agree Björn Vrooman : The clue is "nor." A negative statement (not responding directly) is contrasted with a positive one (speaking exhaustedly) to illustrate why two things are not of equal "weight" (which "as much as" would usually imply).
4 hrs
Thanks:-) Yes, agree
agree B D Finch : " ... so much as" might have been clearer.
5 hrs
Thanks:-) Hmm...I think it's much of a muchness!
agree Cilian O'Tuama : but rather - precisely what I thought of posting
14 hrs
Thanks:-)
agree Phong Le
22 hrs
Thanks:-)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you!"
+1
40 mins

see explanation

He doesn't address God at all. He is speaking to his friends but he is not really talking (or responding) to them, he is just whining in their presence :)
Peer comment(s):
agree acetran
1 day 4 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
57 mins

even though

According to dictionaries. One could also paraphrase it here as 'however much', 'although', or some such, as dictionaries state.
Example sentence:

But much as Murray is revelling in his new status as a tournament champion, he is not daft.

Reference:

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/as-much-as?q=as+much+as

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/as-much-as?s=t

Peer comment(s):
agree Danik 2014
14 mins
Thanks, Danik
agree Tushar Deep
4 hrs
Thank you, Tushar
disagree B D Finch : That would be "much as", not "as much as"//Because tthe dictionary definition doesn't account for the way it is used here: i.e. to introduce a positive statement in opposition to the, previous, dismissive statement introduced by "nor".
6 hrs
Look first at the dict. entry provided, there it says these two are variants ... Why does a foreign translator have to make a choice between your personal preference and a dict. entry?
neutral Björn Vrooman : To your comment to B D Finch: Your own link (second one) distinguishes between the term denoting a quantity (1st option; used here like that) and the term in the sense of as=though (2nd option). On a side note, the "as much as" option is mainly AE, afaik.
1 day 3 hrs
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