Have not been to do
"In the three weeks since the unveiling of the Paradise Papers, the government has clung to familiar arguments. These arguments have not been to do with the Panama Papers– the forerunner investigation into tax havens and offshore empires that the Guardian published last year. Instead, the echoes have come from another remarkable, though unrelated, case: the Edward Snowden intelligence leaks." (The Guardian.)
Is the verb phrase have not been to do identical semantically with have nothing to do in the passage above?
Top answer
To match the tense it would have to be "have had nothing to do with". This is slightly more emphatic than "have not been to do with", but broadly similar in meaning.
- To match the tense it would have to be "have had nothing to do with".
- This is slightly more emphatic than "have not been to do with", but broadly similar in meaning.
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To match the tense it would have to be "have had nothing to do with". This is slightly more emphatic than "have not been to do with", but broadly similar in meaning.
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