so much vs. that much

arth...@yahoo.com

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Jan 25, 2015, 5:46:15 AM1/25/15

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1-If you follow our advice, your relationship will become that much better.
2-If you follow our advice, your relationship will become so much better.

What is the difference between the meanings of the above sentences?

Gratefully,
Navi.

John Holmes

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Jan 25, 2015, 7:12:17 AM1/25/15

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It's hard to tell without context, and you will probably get differing
answers.

For my money:
1 that much = however much has been specified earlier
2 so much = very much, not a specific amount

--
Regards
John
for mail: my initials plus a u e
at tpg dot com dot au

Don Phillipson

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Jan 25, 2015, 9:31:34 AM1/25/15

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> arth...@yahoo.com wrote:
>> 1-If you follow our advice, your relationship will become that much
>> better. 2-If you follow our advice, your relationship will become so
>> much better.
>>
>> What is the difference between the meanings of the above sentences?

"John Holmes" <jh...@tpg.com.au> wrote in message
news:ma2mir$rft$1...@speranza.aioe.org...

> For my money:
> 1 that much = however much has been specified earlier
> 2 so much = very much, not a specific amount

We can generalize (as if seeking a rule, although we have
been forewarned English lacks prescriptive rules):

One of the available functions of "that" is to indicate (point to)
something specific or unique: that rather than this, etc. The
word "so" has its own repertoire of possible functions, but
none seems similarly an exact pointer.

The difference between the texts of #1 and #2 is small, so we may
expect any difference in meaning to be small, one of nuance
rather than denotation.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Jerry Friedman

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Jan 25, 2015, 11:36:07 PM1/25/15

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On 1/25/15 7:29 AM, Don Phillipson wrote:
>> arth...@yahoo.com wrote:
>>> 1-If you follow our advice, your relationship will become that much
>>> better. 2-If you follow our advice, your relationship will become so
>>> much better.
>>>
>>> What is the difference between the meanings of the above sentences?
>
> "John Holmes" <jh...@tpg.com.au> wrote in message
> news:ma2mir$rft$1...@speranza.aioe.org...
>
>> For my money:
>> 1 that much = however much has been specified earlier
>> 2 so much = very much, not a specific amount
>
> We can generalize (as if seeking a rule, although we have
> been forewarned English lacks prescriptive rules):
>
> One of the available functions of "that" is to indicate (point to)
> something specific or unique: that rather than this, etc. The
> word "so" has its own repertoire of possible functions, but
> none seems similarly an exact pointer.

Do you think so? (Do you believe that and not something else?)

> The difference between the texts of #1 and #2 is small, so we may
> expect any difference in meaning to be small, one of nuance
> rather than denotation.

--

Jerry Friedman

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Jan 25, 2015, 11:42:26 PM1/25/15

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On 1/25/15 5:12 AM, John Holmes wrote:
> arth...@yahoo.com wrote:
>> 1-If you follow our advice, your relationship will become that much
>> better. 2-If you follow our advice, your relationship will become so
>> much better.
>>
>> What is the difference between the meanings of the above sentences?
>
> It's hard to tell without context, and you will probably get differing
> answers.
>
> For my money:
> 1 that much = however much has been specified earlier
> 2 so much = very much, not a specific amount

"That much" is sometimes used in a vague way, something like "whatever
amount it is".

STS warning:

"You know it's gonna make it that much better
When we can say goodnight and stay together."

--The Beach Boys, "Wouldn't it be Nice?"

That is, better by the amount that spending the night together makes
their relationship.

--
Jerry Friedman

arth...@yahoo.com

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Jan 26, 2015, 2:09:34 AM1/26/15

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Thank you all very much.

I think I get it. 'That much' might have been specified before and on certain rare occasions it might not have really been specified, as in The Beach Boys example. You are supposed to know how much that much is...

Gratefully,
Navi.

Jerry Friedman

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Jan 27, 2015, 10:21:00 AM1/27/15

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Yes, although the situation in the song seems to be that the singer and
his beloved /don't/ know how much better. It's more like "better by
some definite amount, which we don't know but I for one would like to."

--
Jerry Friedman

arth...@yahoo.com

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Jan 28, 2015, 12:34:42 AM1/28/15

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Thank you very much Jerry.

But there is still a different between 'so much better' and 'that much better' in that context, isn't there?

I have the vague feeling that 'so much better' would just mean 'a lot' and have an indefiniteness to it. 'That much better' seems more limited... To me... And I am never sure of anything and this is a hazy subject... Not quite twilight-zoney though.

Gratefully,
Navi.