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Comment by schtitt | Hacker News Reader

No, they're not different. Every time I am visiting the states I have to go through the extra process of interviewing (due to things that happened a long time ago), and every time I am struck by how it seems like they're actively attempting to dehumanize the persons who are there. The border control is actually the #1 reason I am considering never visiting again. Though, as the original author, I love the US, so it's difficult.

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> Though, as the original author...

Do you mean to say that you are the French historian Henry Rousso?

I think they mean "just like the original author"

In English you can say "as X, Y", for example "as Google, Microsoft releases code, "as last time, I was late" or "as the author, I love the US". It doesn't mean that "Microsoft = Google", or "I am last time" or "I am the author".

Google's dictionary (wherever it comes from) has

> conjunction 2: used to indicate by comparison the way that something happens or is done

I think you're thinking of

> preposition 1: used to refer to the function or character that someone or something has

That's just wrong. In the original comment, "as" was used as a preposition and not as a conjunction. But it is grammatically incorrect to use the preposition "as" to draw a comparison instead of "like". See for example: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/as-o....

You all bring up good points, and I agree that the usage was imprecise and/or wrong, though the original comment did, IMO, contain enough information that you should be able to deduce with a significant probability (in the Bayesian sense) whether or not I am, indeed, the great French historian Henry Rousso!

No, there wasn't enough information to conclude anything either way. That's why I asked the question.

Ah well. You win. Congratulations? I'm not here to argue over grammar. It seems like you have sufficient grip on the language to have understood the comment you quibbled with.

This isn't a competition. While I appreciate that you were only trying to be helpful, in reality proposing false theories doesn't add anything of value to a discussion, especially when the issue can be settled with a basic web search.

Do you think asking a question sarcastically was the best way for you to add value to the discussion?

What makes you think I was being sarcastic?

I never anticipated anybody would be so moronic as to think that.

In this case, "as the original author" would be taken by a native speaker to mean the person is speaking with the authority of being the original author, i.e. they are the original author. "As" is only used for comparison when it is clear from context that that's the case. The idiomatic way to express what I think is intended is "like the original author".

No, he means: LIKE the original author, ...

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