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For the phrase "distribute as evenly as possible", could we use a simpler one—something like "distribute evenly possible" or "distribute possibly evenly". I know these are wrong, but I can't figure out the right one.

niamulbengali
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Daniel Wu
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    Maybe it is just me, but I would think that "distribute evenly" already sort-of could mean "distribute approximately equally". You could also consider "distribute optimally" or even "distribute fairly" (depending on the context). – Řídící Feb 13 '19 at 06:32
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    ... distribute uniformly. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 13 '19 at 14:09

2 Answers2

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Distribute as evenly as possible means "distribute as evenly as (is) possible", in other words, as evenly as one can. It is a comparative construction. The commanded distribution is to be compared with a distribution evincing the greatest evenness that can be.

"evenly possible" makes no sense as possibility is neither even nor uneven, regular or irregular.

Compare:

Jump as far as possible.

Jump far possible ungrammatical

TimR
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  • This would benefit from a conclusion like "so there is no way to remove words from "as evenly as possible" without the meaning changing or the becoming meaningless." – Matt E. Эллен Dec 17 '20 at 09:59
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In America people might say “let’s divy up the stuff” or depending on how many people are involved they might say “let’s split this stuff 2/3/4/etc ways”

shutupinthelibrary
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