Don't be too too late?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi, I just came across the phrase don’t be too too late and wonder it means anything or if it’s just a typo. Here is the paragraph it appeared in:

“Why don’t you take the car home, Roger? I’ll be back later”. Their eyes met; his were cloudy, as though film were whizzing by at high speed, just beneath the surface. “As you wish,” he said.“But don’t be too too late.”

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, question-response: Why don’t you try Home Warehouse?[YSaerTTEW443543]

2

The doubling of ‘too’ is usually done to indicate excessiveness. So, it here it would mean “But don’t be excessively late.”

3

Hi Torsten,

To my ear the ‘too too’ construction smacks very much of affectation. It is often used as spoof comedy when imitating the syle of ‘a bright young thing’ of the 1930s as comic characters in a novel (Vile Bodies) by Evelyn Waugh in an expression like ‘You’re too, too kind.’

Alan

4

…or this might be just a typo, as you said…

5

The adjective ‘too-too’ can even be found in some dictionaries:
Webster’s
Encarta