as best I can tell it

[frindle]

Hello.
Would you tell me what the underlined part means?
Please help! Thank you.


Dear Reader
As best I can tell it, this is our story. Many years have passed, and I would like to report that Kony and his LRA no longer exist, but that would not be true....

 

[BobK]

Hello.
Would you tell me what the underlined part means?
Please help! Thank you.


Dear Reader
As best I can tell it, this is our story. Many years have passed, and I would like to report that Kony and his LRA no longer exist, but that would not be true....

'This is my story - told to the best of my ability/as well as I can.' 'As best I can...' is an almost archaic format, that a lot of people try (incorrectly) to 'repair' in the form 'as best [STRIKE]as[/STRIKE] I can.' You'll make an old man very happy if you avoid this tendency (which I imagine some benighted heathens may well try to defend). ;-)

b

PS This format is often used with a subjunctive: 'We must deal with it as best we may' = '... as well as we can'.

 

[frindle]

Thanks a lot! :-D