'So to speak' versus 'As it were'

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

Hi

Could you please help me understand the use of the following expressions? Are they synonymous? How could we use them in a sentence?

1- So to speak
2- As it were

Tom

2

The expressions so to speak and as it were mean ‘in a manner of speaking’, ‘if I can put it that way’.

[i]I was so terrified that my legs were like jelly, so to speak.

Don’t you feel, as it were, overwhelmed by so many words and ways of putting them together?[/i]

3

Bundles of thanks, Conchita! :smiley:

Could you please also tell me if the following sentences sound OK to you? [color=red]Are these expressions equally common in spoken Englsih?

1- I was so terrified that ,as it were, my legs were like jelly.
2- I was so terrified that my legs were like jelly, as it were.
3- Don’t you feel overwhelmed by so many words and ways of putting them together, so to speak?
4- Don’t you feel, so to speak, overwhelmed by so many words and ways of putting them together?

Tom

4

Your sentences sound okay to me, I guess. Try to place the phrases in question near the word/s they refer to, though – in sentence number three, it is not very clear what ‘so to speak’ relates to.

The BNC gives lots of samples of the phrases in context:

sara.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/sa … as+it+were

sara.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/sa … o+to+speak

5

The word HOLD has a sense of the temporary rather than KEEP. One may HOLD a thing for a short or long time span, but the word
KEEP has an added sense of stability of time in the holder’s possession. I may hold on to a cup for some time,but if I get to keep it
it may be in my possession forever. Suchandra

6

Hi,
Most of the dictionaries bring about the only example:“she lives here, as it were” which unfortunately is of little use to me.
The explanation like: used to indicate that a word or statement is perhaps not exact though practically right. The phrase is likely a truncation of “as it were so” -
got me totally cornered . I can’t imagine it: she lives somewhere here /‘not exact though practically right’/ or she is more alive than dead /‘not exact though practically right’/ ?
Will you come up with some more explanations. Please.

7

Does this link work for you, Eugene?
bnc.bl.uk/saraWeb.php?qy=as+it+were&mysubmit=Go

8

It does, Beees. Thanks a lot.