5898
I am reading a book where one character describes another's reading habits,
and the person she is talking to says 「らしいと言えばらしいな」. From context, he seems to
be saying that her reading habits are unsurprising given her personality, but
why not just say 「らしいな」? What does the 「らしいと言えば」 part add?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-06-18T06:16:24.773
5892
2022-03-16T05:56:29.797
28
question
translation set-phrases
What does the phrase らしいと言えばらしい mean?
Does the person describing another's habits use らしい as well?  
Isn't it something like this

> A: BhlaBhlaらしいな  
>  B: らしいと言えばらしいな

In this case, B is just nodding to a point he did not picture before. "I can
picture it now that you said it.". The same as そう言えばそうかもな。  
らしいな alone would mean "Yes, you are right." without the previous nuance I
mentioned.
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2012-06-18T08:08:46.590
5893
2022-03-16T05:56:29.797
2022-03-16T05:56:29.797
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5892
answer
'AといえばA' means "(I would not spontaneously say so, but) if you are going to
say A, I am not strongly against it". 'AらしいといえばAらしい' means "(I would not
spontaneously say so, but) if you are going to say it is characteristic of A,
I am not strongly against it".
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-06-18T13:09:01.567
5898
2012-06-18T13:16:20.607
2012-06-18T13:16:20.607
5892
answer