Word.ws English Dictionary

as who should say

as who should say prepositional phrase: as if one should say, as if to say; so to say; in a manner of speaking.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (dated) as if one should say, as if to say; so to say; in a manner of speaking.
    • As who ſhould ſay, I am ſir an Oracle, / And when I ope my lips, let no dogge bark.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • He doth nothing but frowne, as who ſhould ſay, and you will not haue me, chooſe : he heares merrie tales and ſmiles not […]c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

Origin of as who should say

Probably a calque of French comme qui dirait/diroit.

Questions about as who should say

What does as who should say mean?
As who should say means as if one should say, as if to say; so to say; in a manner of speaking.
What part of speech is as who should say?
As who should say is a prepositional phrase.

Words near as who should say in the dictionary

  1. as we know it
  2. as we speak
  3. as well
  4. as well as
  5. as what
  6. as who should say
  7. as with
  8. as yet
  9. as yet unknown
  10. as you do
  11. as you go

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: as who should say (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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