Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2017 December 7

= December 7 =

as respects instead of as regards?
Does "as respects" for "as regards" or "with regard to" fall in the area of educated usage or is it just corruption based on the similarity of meaning of both words? --2405:204:D30E:1582:C91D:BF50:A940:60F4 (talk) 10:21, 7 December 2017 (UTC)
 * There are many ways of getting the idea across.  "Considering" would do just as well. 92.27.49.50 (talk) 10:39, 7 December 2017 (UTC)


 * A reasonable guide to educated usage is a google books search. HenryFlower 11:06, 7 December 2017 (UTC)


 * "As regards, a much maligned phrase, is sometimes inferior to regarding or concerning, but is not a solecism". Garner's Dictionary of Legal Usage (p. 84), Bryan A. Garner. Alansplodge (talk) 11:20, 7 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Note the dictum of Fuller C J in that explanation.  Lawyers and business people would probably use the one word "Re..." 92.27.49.50 (talk) 11:43, 7 December 2017 (UTC)


 * Where have you seen "as respects"? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 12:52, 7 December 2017 (UTC)

Here: http://niyamasabha.org/bills/13kla/published/370-pub-eng.pdf --2405:204:D302:7045:30D3:EDA2:6460:7388 (talk) 14:51, 7 December 2017 (UTC)


 * A quick Google search also throws up:
 * Papers Concerning the Case of Marshal Ney: In So Far as Respects the Secretary of State's Office for Foreign Affairs. (UK Parliament, 1816)
 * A View of South-Carolina, as Respects Her Natural and Civil Concerns. John Drayton, Clerk of South Carolina District (1802) - see also John Drayton.
 * An Essay on Magnetic Attractions: Particularly as Respects the Deviation of the Compass on Shipboard. Peter Barlow, Royal Military Academy (1820)
 * So it seems to have a distinguished pedigree, if now somewhat frowned upon. Alansplodge (talk) 18:44, 7 December 2017 (UTC)
 * What it seems to be is obsolete. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 19:48, 7 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Maybe, but this book dates from 2010, one of many more recent examples, although mostly in legal, academic or scientific contexts. Alansplodge (talk) 10:27, 8 December 2017 (UTC)


 * "As regards" and "as respects" simply seem to be headlinese versions of the impersonal "as it regards/respects" phrase, which itself uses a dummy "it" due to the preference of English for nominal subject phrases. Not really a serious issue. μηδείς (talk) 02:19, 8 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Would you add a dummy "it" also to "as follows"? Not sure. When a dummy "it" is needed, it's actually added, e.g. in "as it stands", "as it happens", "as it were", and so forth. HOTmag (talk) 16:10, 9 December 2017 (UTC)


 * The word re as lawyers use it comes from the ablative case of the Latin noun res, "re" (as in in re) meaning "thing". The French word rien comes from this, as well as res publica; Republic" -- "Thing of the People".  So there has been a folk etymoligization of re where it is interpreted itself to mean "regarding" or "respecting" whereas in the Latin phrase in re literally means "in (the) matter (of)". -- 01:47, 8 December 2017 Medeis
 * I was told in my first job that "re" was short for "reference", i.e "with reference to", but a quick Google shows that you are absolutely correct. Alansplodge (talk) 10:17, 8 December 2017 (UTC)