By your leave

Question

HiI want to know if native speakers use the phrase/idiom (without so much as a) by your leave at all these days. Would it sound old-fashioned in everyday conversation?Thanks,Tom

Philip · Accepted Answer

Without so much as a.. is still somewhat common. ...by your leave is not so common, but still understood by educated people. [ The first part is often followed by something more vulgar, such as kissing a part of the anatomy. ]

Mr. Tom · Answer

Thanks, Philip.

One more question -- perhaps a silly one.

Do you think if you used this phrase "without so much...leave" among young people -- let's say college students -- it would cause a lot of smiles? In other words, would they consider you old and find the use of the phrase funny?

Tom

Philip · Answer

Generally, there's no such thing as a 'silly question'. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/5.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/5.gif' alt='Emotion: wink'/>   I think the level of understanding would depend on the level of sophistication of the younger person.  I think the general gist of the phrase would be understood, at least.  One of the more vulgar expressions would be more readily understood than "... by your leave".  Did I mention that I'm talking only about the US here?

GPY · Answer

The "ngrams" plot for this phrase is very different from what I expected:

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=as+a+by+your+leave&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cas%20a%20by%20your%20leave%3B%2Cc0

I expected a peak in the 19th century and a steep decline in recent times.

"as a by your leave" is all the words allowed, but I'm assuming that this sequence occurs only as part of the full phrase.

By your leave

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