Guide 187 / 200 4 alternatives 2-minute read
Better ways to say “as it were”
A literary hedge — "if one may put it that way".
i · Why avoid itTwo lines, no filler
Survives from 17th-century English prose. Lends an old-book cadence; in modern writing it often just marks a metaphor the writer didn't fully commit to. Drop it or pick a straighter word.
ii · Before & afterDrop-in demo
Before
The project has gone sideways, as it were.
After
The project has stalled.
iii · The alternatives4 ways out
- 01So to speak neutral
near-synonym
The project has stalled, so to speak.
- 02In a sense neutral
mild hedge
In a sense, the project has stalled.
- 03[delete it] neutral
commit to the image
The project has stalled.
- 04Figuratively formal
explicit framing
The project, figuratively, has stalled.
iv · Brew tipKeep this one
Modern prose doesn't need an apology for its metaphors.