English

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Pronunciation

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Adverb

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good and (comparative more good and, superlative most good and)

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see good,‎ and.
  2. (idiomatic, used as an intensifier) Very; exceptionally; utterly.
    Coordinate terms: nice and; all too
    good and ready
    I'll process his request when I'm good and ready, that's when!
    • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 25, in Treasure Island:
      As for that swab, he's good and dead, he is.
    • 1946, H. L. Mencken, American Mercury:
      Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.
    • 2008, Nancy Huston, Fault Lines, →ISBN:
      [S]he doesn't insist on the whole vegetable-meat-fish-eggs aspect of eating, saying I'll get around to that when I'm good and ready for it.

Usage notes

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  • Precedes an adjective or adverb.
  • Only context can distinguish this usage from the more conventional usage in which good functions as an adjective conjoined by and to a second adjective, as in the example below:
    • 1868, Louisa May Alcott, chapter 20, in Little Women:
      Money is a good and useful thing.

References

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  • Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
  • Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.