• Clay_pidgin
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    271 month ago

    How does one pronounce “lief”? LEEF? LIFE?

    • @criitz@reddthat.com
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      261 month ago

      Pronounced like leaf. Apparently it basically means “gladly”. Seems to have died out in the early 20th century.

      lief
      /lēf/

      adverb
      Readily; willingly.
      “I would as lief go now as later.”

      Gladly; willingly; freely; – now used only in the phrases, had as lief, and would as lief.
      “I had, or would, as lief go as not”

      • Clay_pidgin
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        71 month ago

        I’ve read it in older books with even older characters, but I’ve not once heard it said! Thank you.