There is a book by Galina Demykina "The lost girl and the scallywags" (a Russian one, translated into English, 1977) and there is a very strange sentence: "Zoya saw nothing save thick, ever so thick bushes." I cannot undestand it. It must mean that Zoya could see nothing, but very thick bushes. So, is there a real English word-construction "save ..., ever so ..." or it is just a made-up by the translator?
Asked
Active
Viewed 71 times
1
-
3The word save can indeed mean but or except. The ever so thick isn't connected to the save, it's just an elaboration on thick. – Peter Shor Jul 07 '15 at 11:55
-
2Consider ever so thick a parenthetical addition: “Zoya saw nothing save thick (ever so thick) bushes”. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Jul 07 '15 at 11:58