2026 As best I can

I'll avoid all the Friday the Thirteenth references as best I can, but Nathan Bierma, whose column on language I enjoy on subscription and in the Trib, says that phrase "as best as is either a grammatical error or an exception to a firm rule of English syntax."

"As best as" is striking, because "best" is the superlative form of "well," and English doesn't use any other superlative in this phrase. We say "as much as" but not "as most as"; "as red as" but not "as reddest as." The phrase "as best as I can" may be a mix-up of "as well as I can" and "the best that I can."

After talking to a few experts about this, who agreed it isn't standard, but isn't a serious problem, he went high tech and googled the expression finding some form of it going all the way back to 1377. Standard or not, it's got a bit of age.

Bierma's column here.