English

Adverb

even as we speak ‎(not comparable)

1. Right at the moment, right now, contemporaneously.
   • 1872, Julian Hawthorne, “The Mullenville Mystery,” Scribner’s Monthly, vol. 3, no. 6 (1 April), p. 687:

     By the way, Sam Gumple, the town beau, hates Ned Holland with a deadly hatred, which logically proves him jealous; and, even as we speak, behold the cause!

   • 1998, Christopher Farley et al., “!Viva La Musica Cubana!,” Time, 22 June:

     At 11 p.m. the man checking names at the door of the Village Vanguard, the New York City jazz club where Miles played, where Monk played, says Jesus hasn’t arrived but his plane “is touching down even as we speak.”

   • 2005, Sewell Chan, “Testimony Completed in Suit Over Searches in Subways,” New York Times, 2 Nov. (retrieved 22 July 2009):

     “There is no doubt in my mind that the introduction of bag searches—even though it’s random, even though it’s not 100 percent—dramatically improves the security posture of this huge, sprawling subway system, which I believe is a top-tier target of Al Qaeda right now, even as we speak,” said the police official, Michael A. Sheehan.

Usage notes

• Often used in a manner which conveys emphasis, exaggeration, or a comic effect.