As ... as any

[LordOfTheRings]

Best wishes.
I have a question.

Does clauses like

"as good as any..."
"as close as any..."

have the meaning

"better than any..."
"closer than any..."

I?


I see some paradox here.
Literrally "As good as any" means that "Anything is equally good" not "One better than others".

Could find it in no dictionary.

What's kind of this exeption?

Is it a customary conventional well-established omni-accepted mistake?

Thank you.

[5jj]

It will be rather easier for us to respond usefully if you give us a couple of examples that have puzzled you. It's not easy to give a general answer. Context often makes any implication clear.

[LordOfTheRings]

From google search:

" I think Chrysler is as close to Mazda as any, so pardon me."

"Right now, Detroit is as close as any city in America to becoming a food desert, not just another metropolis like Chicago, Philadelphia, or Cleveland with a bunch..."

"209 Sqn RAF seemed to come as close as any British fighter unit to earning the ' anti-Richthofen' monicker Wenzl had given it.

" Indianapolis Star journalist Marcus B. Chandler declared, "Freeman has come as close as any artist living in Indianapolis to achieving a national reputation in contemporary fine arts".

"His novels are known to come as close as any in the mystery- and-thriller genre to a genuine realism."

[5jj]

Does clauses like

"as good as any..." ....."as close as any..."

have the meaning....."better than any..."....."closer than any...".....?

No.

They mean that there are no others that are closer/better, but there could be one/some that are as close/good.