as I live and breathe
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For sure, definitely, as in As I live and breathe, I've never seen a more beautiful view. This expression is generally used to emphasize the truth of a statement and has been so used since the mid-1600s, although sometimes it was put simply as as I live. However, the complete phrase was also used early on, as in Arthur Murphy's 1756 play The Apprentice (2:1): “As I live and breathe, we shall both be taken, for heaven's sake let us make our escape.”
QUIZ
QUIZ YOURSELF ON “ITS” VS. “IT’S”!
Apostrophes can be tricky; prove you know the difference between "it’s" and "its" in this crafty quiz!
Question 1 of 8
On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.
Words nearby as I live and breathe
aside, aside from, asiderite, as if, sight for sore eyes, a, as I live and breathe, Asimov, Asine, asinine, sinking feeling, a, ASIO
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.