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I don't know as I do.

English translation: Cautiously polite way of saying "I don't"

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English term or phrase:	I don't know as I do.
English translation:	Cautiously polite way of saying "I don't"
Entered by:	Jack Doughty

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19:16 Sep 20, 2009

English to English translations [PRO]
Linguistics / Colloquialism

English term or phrase: I don't know as I do.

Some dictionaries describe this usage of "as" like this:
Informal (in dependent clauses) - "that": I don't know as I do
(i.e I don't know "that" I do). And for a non English-speaker it still means jack. And please, do not ask me for context - even authoritative lexicons have fail do provide one - probably assuming that the meaning is clear. Well, not to me.
Anyone, please?

FNO
Brazil

Cautiously polite way of saying "I don't"

Explanation:
There is a negative shade of meaning to this. If you ask someone "Do you like this?" and he replies "I don't know as I do", he really means he doesn't like it but he wants to tone down his answer, not wishing to offend you in case you do like it.

Selected response from:

Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:50

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +15

Cautiously polite way of saying "I don't"

Jack Doughty

4 +7

I don't think I do

Tony M

4 +4

I'm not sure I do

Melanie Nassar

I don't know that I do.

Marion Burns

Summary of reference entries provided

Twain, Dickens

Kim Metzger

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

23 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

i don't know "as" i do. (what on earth does it mean?) I'm not sure I do

Explanation:
Probably would work in most contexts.

as in: Do you understand me? – I don't know as I do.

Pretty dated though, even with "that" instead of "as".

Melanie Nassar
Palestine
Local time: 15:50
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 12

48 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +15

i don't know "as" i do. (what on earth does it mean?)

Cautiously polite way of saying "I don't"

Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:50
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 145

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Melzie: and colloquial

6 mins

-> Thank you. Yes, I think you could say it's colloquial.

agree

Tony M: Yes, there's often a slight implication "I'm not too sure that I do..." etc.

16 mins

-> Thank you.

agree

cmwilliams

20 mins

-> Thank you.

agree

Samantha Payn

1 hr

-> Thank you.

agree

Kim Metzger

1 hr

-> Thank you.

agree

Phong Le

3 hrs

-> Thank you.

agree

corbettb

7 hrs

-> Thank you.

agree

Yasutomo Kanazawa

7 hrs

-> Thank you.

agree

Shera Lyn Parpia

8 hrs

-> Thank you.

agree

writeaway: cautious and a bit non-committal. but not unsure.

9 hrs

-> Thank you. That's right, just a pretence of being unsure.

agree

Demi Ebrite

10 hrs

-> Thank you.

agree

Andycarruk: There's more than a hint of "nor the very idea of it", but perhaps that's just shades of Dickensian archness. In the right setting this would be an amplification of disapproval, rather than toning down.

13 hrs

-> Thank you. Yes, the degree of disapproval depends on the tone of voice, or in print, the context.

agree

Suzan Hamer

19 hrs

-> Thank you.

agree

Goldcoaster

21 hrs

-> Thank you.

agree

· george ·

1 day22 hrs

-> Thank you.

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +7

I don't think I do

Explanation:
It has a very dated air about it, seems to have been widely used in the 19th century, and often seems to be a stylistic device used to suggest a certain class, background etc. of the speaker.

Almost only ever found these days in dialogue.

Like Jack says, it always seems somehow to suggest a slight reluctance to come right out and say no.

"Do you feel like coming out for a walk with us this afternoon?"

"I don't know as I do" = "I don't really think so, probably"

"Would you like another glass of sherry, Vicar?"

"Oh, I don't know as I should..." = "I don't think I ought to (but maybe I'd like to!)"

Tony M
France
Local time: 14:50
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 112

22 hrs confidence:

i don't know as i do. I don't know that I do.

Explanation:
Literally "I don't know that I do." It's difficult to explain the subtlely to a non-native speaker. It has a quaint, old-fashioned ring to it, as well as the suggestion of a rural dialect. It's most likely something you'd see in a literary context, though it's meaning would be clear enough, even to the Twitter generation.

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Note added at 23 hrs (2009-09-21 18:30:13 GMT)
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Here's a nice example:

“Well, I don’t expect to marry. I don’t know as I do at my time of life,” replied the spinster. “I rather guess my day for chances has gone by.”
Francis Lee Pratt, “Captain Ben’s Choice”
In Mark Twain’s Library of Humor, 1888

Marion Burns
United States
Local time: 08:50
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English

Reference comments

2 hrs peer agreement (net): +2

Reference: Twain, Dickens

Reference information:
As
Informal. (in dependent clauses) that: I don't know as I do.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/as

A Horse’s Tale by Mark Twain
"Look here, Dorcas, go along back, and be tactful. Be persuasive; don't fret her; tell her it's all right, the matter is in my hands, but it isn't good form to hurry so grave a matter as this. Explain to her that we have to go by precedents, and that I believe this one to be new. In fact, you can say I know that nothing just like it has happened in our army, therefore I must be guided by European precedents, and must go cautiously and examine them carefully. Tell her not to be impatient, it will take me several days, but it will all come out right, and I will come over and report progress as I go along. Do you get the idea, Dorcas?"
"I don't know as I do, sir."
"Well, it's this. You see, it won't ever do for me, a brigadier in the regular army, to preside over that infant court-martial - there isn't any precedent for it, don't you see. Very well. I will go on examining authorities and reporting progress until she is well enough to get me out of this scrape by presiding herself. Do you get it now?"
"Oh, yes, sir, I get it, and it's good, I'll go and fix it with her. LAY DOWN! and stay where you are."
http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/mtwain/bl-mtwa...

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Non-standard English of Phil Squod

After verbs of saying or thinking ‘as’ is used with the meaning of that

"N-no, I don't know asI do, particular," says Phil. Line 29•

http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/sgramley/Charles Dickens.pd...

Kim Metzger
Mexico
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 187