I looked up in a dictionary for “might just as well” and I found the following definitions:
might (just) as well:
1-used to that someone should do something, because there is no good reason to do anything else
2-used to say that the effect of an action or situation is the same as if it was another one
Which one is intended here?
“Why do you keep talking to my horse instead of to me?” asked the girl.
“Excuse me, Tarkheena,” said Bree (with just the slightest backward tilt of his ears), “but that’s Calormene talk. We’re free Narnians, Hwin and I, and I suppose, if you’re running away to Narnia, you want to be one too. In that case Hwin isn’t your horse any longer. One might just as well say you’re her human.”
The girl opened her mouth to speak and then stopped. Obviously she had not quite seen it in that light before.
This means that it is almost as if the relationship between horse and human is reversed, with Hwin playing the role of the human master who owns and controls a human. Please let me know if this makes sense.
These are all used casually, especially among friends. The language itself is casual, but the atmosphere is also casual and relaxed.
Might as well is often associated with not caring what the person does, or does not have a strong opinion, or it doesn’t matter.
John: Should we stop at the grocery store?
Amy: Do we need anything?
John: We could probably use a few things but nothing important.
Amy: Well, we might as well go since it’s on the way home.
Something similar:
Just as easily
This has a slightly different meaning than might as well. It can be used to offer an alternative way of doing something. Even though the words don’t say it, it often suggests that another way is actually easier.
