What's the grammar applied to "far be it "?
I'm having difficulties understanding it since I've never seen such a form so far.

① What's the structure of the phrase? Is it an "imperative sentence" whose form is "do something" or is it an "declarative sentence" whose form is "A is B"?

② "Far" is always used as adjective or adverb, however, the far here seems like it's used as a noun or verb. What's the actual position of "far" here and why?

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OldGeezer

10 Ağu 2020

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İngilizce (ABD)
İngilizce (Birleşik Krallık)

"Far be it" is an idiomatic verb phrase. That means that it doesn't follow any rules, it's just the way we say it.

far be it from me to do something (but…)

(informal) used when you are just about to disagree with somebody or to criticize them and you would like them to think that you do not really want to do this

For example: Far be it from me to interfere in your affairs but I would like to give you just one piece of advice.

Note: In this phrase, "far" is an adverb, but it's part of the verb phrase.

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OldGeezer

10 Ağu 2020

İngilizce (ABD)
İngilizce (Birleşik Krallık)

"Far be it" is an idiomatic verb phrase. That means that it doesn't follow any rules, it's just the way we say it.

far be it from me to do something (but…)

(informal) used when you are just about to disagree with somebody or to criticize them and you would like them to think that you do not really want to do this

For example: Far be it from me to interfere in your affairs but I would like to give you just one piece of advice.

Note: In this phrase, "far" is an adverb, but it's part of the verb phrase.

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DDammy

10 Ağu 2020

Portekizce (Brezilya)
İngilizce (ABD)

@JennieHeo06
It's kind of like imperative! You're right it's like you're demanding the problem to stay far away...

Far be it

It (something abstract or whtvr the issue is) has to be far away from me

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Jennie___

11 Ağu 2020

Korece

@OldGeezer Thank you so much for your response! So you mean it's on the position of idiomatic verb and that's why the phrase is considered a grammatical error in today's point of view, right?
Also, can you please share the image that occurs to you when you first see the phrase?...For example, for me, I first thought it's saying "Put it away from me" because of the adverb far in it. I'm not sure if thinking of this kind of thing is proper, though. So your opinion about the LITERAL word would help me out a lot to understand it more.
Thanks again for your help!

Jennie___

11 Ağu 2020

Korece

@AnJOr Thanks a lot for your response! So what you mean is like it's saying "put it away!" or "let it stay away from me!", right? That makes sense, in light of what the phrase means though.😊

OldGeezer

11 Ağu 2020

İngilizce (ABD)
İngilizce (Birleşik Krallık)

@JennieHeo06 Yes, your literal meaning is right. It's like "I am far away from that" or "I would never do that".

The real meaning is this (for example):
Far be it from me to say something mean, but your hair is green! = I would never say anything mean (I am far away from saying something mean), but your hair is green!

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Bu cevap yardımcı oldu mu?

Jennie___

11 Ağu 2020

Korece

@OldGeezer I see! Thanks for going over the details for me!
Anyways, I have a question for your example. (It's pretty far from what I was asking but hope you kindly do me a favor of giving a simple explanation!) You said the expression 'hair is green' and suggest it's virtually mean to be said. And I just thought that's interesting. Does that mean something idiomatic as well...?