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12-Dec-2007, 16:41
| | Member | | Join Date: Jul 2006 Country: Italy
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| |  as poor as poor can be
Hello,
I've heard this expression in a sentence similar to the one below
My father was born in Perù as poor as poor can be
What does it exactly mean? Does it have a particular meaning or is it just a way to stress that he was really poor? |
12-Dec-2007, 16:57
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| | Re: as poor as poor can be
Hello,
I think it means he was extremely poor.  |
12-Dec-2007, 17:13
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| | Re: as poor as poor can be
Quote:
Originally Posted by Englishlanguage  Hello,
I've heard this expression in a sentence similar to the one below
My father was born in Perù as poor as poor can be
What does it exactly mean? Does it have a particular meaning or is it just a way to stress that he was really poor? | 'As poor as poor can be' means you are definitely at the lowest end of the money chain! It doesn't get much worse!
Cheers,
Amigos4 |
12-Dec-2007, 17:20
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| | Re: as poor as poor can be
Thank you. 
Does it sound like a formal expression? |
12-Dec-2007, 18:39
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| | Re: as poor as poor can be
Quote:
Originally Posted by Englishlanguage Thank you.
Does it sound like a formal expression? | Definitely not formal! It is commonly used in the US.
Cheers,
Amigos4 |
12-Dec-2007, 19:06
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| | Re: as poor as poor can be
Quote:
Originally Posted by amigos4 Definitely not formal! It is commonly used in the US.
Cheers,
Amigos4 | Thank you very much. I think I was misled by the strange construction. As poor as the poor can be would make more sense to me |
12-Dec-2007, 19:19
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| | Re: as poor as poor can be
Quote:
Originally Posted by Englishlanguage Thank you very much. I think I was misled by the strange construction. As poor as the poor can be would make more sense to me | Nice point! However, I'm confident that there are hierarchical levels of poverty among 'the poor.' When you are 'as poor as poor can be' you've definitely hit the bottom!
Cheers,
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