as it were

as it were
as it were
as one might say; as could be said. (Sometimes used to qualify an assertion that may not sound reasonable.) •

He carefully constructed, as it were, a huge submarine sandwich.

The Franklins live in a small and, as it were, exquisite house.

* * *
{adv. phr.} As it might be said to be; as if it really were; seemingly. - Used with a statement that might seem silly or unreasonable, to show that it is just a way of saying it. * /In many ways children live, as it were, in a different world from adults./ * /The sunlight on the icy branches made, as it were, delicate lacy cobwebs from tree to tree./ Compare: SO TO SPEAK.

Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.

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