A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

as anything • like anything
as anything— an intensifier used as part of an informal com-
parison: Natasha was one of these people who’s nice as any-
thing until you don’t do something she says.
like anything —(coll.) do smth. with great energy or enthu-
siasm: He waved to us and we waved back like anything.
Note:
The expression is not antonymous in meaning to the
phrase like nothing on earth—(coll.) 
1
. extremely strange; highly
unusual: You may yet meet with a lumbering native bear, like
nothing on earth so much as a child’s woolly toy. 2. feeling or
looking very ill or miserable: That dreadful period when you’re
just coming out of an anesthetic and feeling like nothing on
earth is not the time when you want a visitor.
as big as a barn • as big as all outdoors
as big as a barn —very large: The restaurant is as big as a
barn — and as plain and welcoming as a farmhouse kitchen.
Note: 
The expression is not equivalent in meaning to the phrase
as big as they come
— used of a size not likely to be exceeded: If
he did really catch a 20 lb. salmon, he was lucky; that’s about
as big as they come.
as big as all outdoors —
1
. very vast and spacious: The store
room is as big as all outdoors. 2. huge; great: Bob likes a chal-
lenge that’s as big as all outdoors.
Note: 
Neither expression is related in meaning to the phrase
as big as life
—(also: as large as life) used of smb. actually present,
especially in a place where a person is not supposed to be: I
thought Tom had gone to Europe. There he is, as big as life.
as far • so far
as far —(also: this far) to a specified point or place: They
opened more clinics since people couldn’t travel as far for med-
ical care.
so far —
1
. until now; up to the present time: There has not
so far been any book-length study focused on postmodernism.
2. = as far: It really makes you think about how amazing it is
that you can travel so far in one day.