On ‘Suffice It to Say’

Verb enoughderived from Latin enough, which means “to fulfill or satisfy a need.” For the most part, it is used intransitively:

The deal is available all day during each brewery’s normal hours. Voters should bring proof: an “I voted” sticker from the vote center or a photograph of the ballot will enough, the organizers said. —Rachel Riley, Colorado Springs GazetteNovember 2, 2018

The VMAs should have had another artist (who knows Aretha Franklin better) speaking, where the focus would be on Franklin and the vast amount of musical work she left behind, and how she influenced so many people. . A live performance in Franklin’s honor by an artist will feature enough also. — Markos Papadatos, Digital magazineAugust 21, 2018

enough to say what it means

We could explain more, but suffice it to say we’re happy with this stock photo.

Sometimes, enough is seen in transitive usage, with the object of the verb being the person whose need is met. This usage is found in some old documents but not much nowadays:

But someone else’s luxury was not what she wanted. A few years ago it was enough her: she took her daily pleasure without caring who provided it. Now she was beginning to resent the obligations it imposed, to feel like a mere pensioner in the splendor that had previously seemed to belong to her. – Wharton Editor, Mirth’s house1905

enoughOf course, is related to the adjective reasonable, which means “sufficient to meet the needs of a proposed situation or end.” We often see enough in idiomatic phrases like either enough to say or enough to say. The phrase introduces something that in itself makes a larger point:

Facebook has 1.49 billion daily users, according to public information posted by the company itself. On top of that, the site boasts around 2.27 billion monthly active users. Enough to say that when there is a problem accessing the website, people will notice. — Monica Busch, bustleNovember 12, 2018

Last week, the service issued a dangerous blizzard warning for parts of the Upper Peninsula. And then the flood hit the Detroiters. Enough to say they weren’t very pleased with their muddled and muddy first commute of the season. — Fiona Kelliher, Detroit Free PressNovember 13, 2018

You might notice something odd about enough in these sentences: although it is a verb, it is not conjugated. That is, it arranges functions that are independent of a theme and therefore have no end-to-ends attached to make it relevant to that theme. It was just… there.

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There are also questions of what’s strange It doing in the second example. enough It? enough What? Who or what is being satisfied here?

mavens grammar review enough (it) to say belongs to the same category as other phrases such as As directed, is as it can, Oh my GodAnd what happens?, are all used with no variance and without much thought about their specificity. Technically, it is considered a form of hypothetical mood.

About theory, enough to say can be rewritten as it is enough to saywith It acts as in “it’s hard to imagine,” an auxiliary to hang the verb (To be) to introduce a condition. Therefore It not the subject of enough here, which is rather an introductory particle in an inverted structure. And since then It there is no obvious function in enough to sayit is removed from idioms by some speakers.

Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn

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