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Taka Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

easily

0 01font01i00Younger people look dispassionately at their cultural traditions and simply pull out the elements that they like. The older generation sees this as a loss of identity, but it could as 01b01font00easily02font02b00 be interpreted as a search for a new identity 00in which one does not fit himself to the past but makes the past fit him. This is not a rejection of that past, but neither is it an uncritical embrace.02br
02i02br
00Now, which 'easily' do you native speakers think it is?02br
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00 1. In an easy manner; with ease. 02br
00 2. Without question; certainly: (e.g. easily the best play this season). 02br
00 3. In all likelihood; well: (e.g. a mistake that could easily have ended in disaster). 02br
00 ----------01i00The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language02i02br
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24 Answers
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0 I go for 1, explain later.0-
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0 In my humble opinion, I tend to think # 3 is a more logical choice. Note this passage: 01i01font00could 02font01font01b00as02b00 02font01b01font00easily02font02b01font00 01font
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0I think the implication of #3 is of "something negative that might happen/might have happened".02br
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001. It was a mistake that could easily have ended in disaster [but didn't, thank ***].02br
02br
002. It's a policy that could easily end in disaster [but won't, we hope].02br
02br
00Whereas in our example, that interpretation is a
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0Hi guys,02br
01font02br
02br
01i01font00it could as02font01font00 easily be02font01font00 interpreted as a search for a new identity02font02i02br
02br
00I think that 01font
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Clive12cite10To my mind, if you add 'as' to this, it takes away or at least greatly reduces the 11i10[but didn't,12i10 11i10thank ***]12i10 feeling. 12br
12blockquote
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00 Clive, could you tell me why it is so?0-
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0 The reason why I chose 1 is that in 2 & 3 "easily" is used to describe only one action. I don't see negative connotations being relevant here unless we look at other words (disaster in 3). So sticking to just the word "easily" and its function in the quote, it is being used to compare two viewpoints. The first uses the verb "sees", and the second one uses the verb "interpret". 02br
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0Hi,02br
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01font01i00The older generation sees this as a loss of identity, but it could as easily02i00 be02font01font00 01i00interpreted as a search for a new identity.02i02font02br
02br
00It seems to me that the underlying idea is really
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0 Clive,02br
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00 About this 'as easily':02br
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01blockquote
01cite10Clive12cite10 11font10It was a mistake that could 11font10as 12font10easily have ended in disaster.12font12br
12blockquote
12br
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0Hi,02br
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00As easily as 01i00not02i00 ending in disaster.02br
02br
00Clive0-
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0To revise and expand a little on my point about number 3...02br
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00Here is the AHD definition that Taka cited:01blockquote
003. In all likelihood; 11b10well12b10: (e.g. a mistake that could easily have ended in disaster). 12br
10----------11i10The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language12i
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