• @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    251 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”

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        51 month ago

        It sounds a lot like the dutch “net zo lief” which translates to “just as lovely” and we still use it today in this context.

    • Clay_pidgin
      link
      English
      71 month ago

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