"Some friends you are!"

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

Hi,

As the Oxford dictionary says, the word “some” can be used with singular countable nouns to refer to a person, place, thing or time that is not known or not identified.
For instance: “Some friend you are!” which probably means “you are something called a Friend, but in fact you are not one”.

So, what if we want to say this to more that one friend? Then we should use “Friends” which isn’t a singular countable nouns. It would be “Some friends you are!”. Does this convey the same meaning?

Thank you.

2

That’s what I have found online.

some

1 used to mean a person or thing, when you do not know or say exactly which:

[British English] There must be some reason for her behaviour.

[British English] Can you give me some idea of the cost?
some kind/type/form/sort of something

[British English] We can hopefully reach some kind of agreement.

2 informal used when you are talking about a person or thing that you do not know, remember, or understand, or when you think it does not matter:

[American English] Some guy called for you while you were gone.
some something or other/another

[British English] Just give him some excuse or other.

3 used to say that something was very good or very impressive:

[British English] That was some party last night!

4
some friend you are/some help she was etc

spoken used, especially when you are annoyed, to mean someone or something has disappointed you by not behaving in the way you think they should:

[American English] You won’t lend me the money? Some friend you are!

3

Thanks for copying those information about the word “some”.

But I would be more grateful if someone answers my question!

4

“Some X you are!”, “Some X he is!”, “Some X they turned out to be!” and similar expressions are used (to requote one of Jimic’s definitions) “when you are annoyed, to mean someone or something has disappointed you by not behaving in the way you think they should”.

X can be singular or plural, so, for example, “Some friend you are!” and “Some friends you are!” are both possible. When you say it, you emphasise the word “you”.

I do not understand how the definition you mention about “can be used with singular countable nouns…” is supposed to relate to the use of “some” in expressions like this.

5

Thank you Dozy.