just soadj.adv.

?1566 W. P. tr. C. S. Curio Pasquine in Traunce 97 Euen iust so, is it of the nakednesse, that nowe I tell thee of.

a1620 J. Dyke Divers Select Serm. (1640) 22 Just so with thee.

1647 J. Howell New Vol. of Lett. 120 It is just so now, that any triobolary pasquiller,..is licenc'd to throw dirt in the faces of Soveraign Princes in open printed language.

1701 Apol. Socrates in M. Dacier Plato Abrig'd II. 26 People may rest satisfied that it is just so.

1753 tr. F. Génard School of Man 223 Then the Vassalage of my Manor is very considerable; 'tis just so with mine, continues he.

1815 S. Worcester Let. Rev. W. E. Channing (ed. 3) 58 It was generally so..with those who opposed the truth in those ancient days. It is just so now.

1861 O. W. Norton Army Lett. 44 It is just so when we go on picket.

1900 J. K. Jerome Three Men on Bummel ix. 182 It was just so when I was young; the evening always wound up with a row at the Criterion.

2010 S. Lindstromberg Eng. Prepositions Explained (rev. ed.) ii. 47 It is just so here in the case of made out of vs made from.

1696 P. A. Motteux Loves of Mars & Venus ii. 14 Hold; Let the God of Anvils know, My Master's Arms must be just so.

a1766 F. Sheridan Concl. Mem. Miss Sidney Bidulph (1770) IV. xxii. 152 The thing must be just so; and I shall have, in ten minutes, the letter from his steward, commanding my personal attendance.

1824 ‘A. Singleton’ Lett. from South & West 18 Their just so garb, which, when adopted, was the court costume of the time, makes them [sc. Quakers] appear like antediluvians.

1835 Genesee (Rochester, N.Y.) Farmer 18 Apr. 125/1 Their cattle all look just alike—shape and color must be just so, or away they go—the drover gets them.

1887 W. D. Parish & W. F. Shaw Dict. Kentish Dial. 85 You wunt please him without everything is just-so.

1922 Everybody's Feb. 140/1 She's always just so, and speaks in the modulated tones of perfect breeding.

1952 L. MacNeice Ten Burnt Offerings 76 Reposed on a Sunday lap in the just-so room.

1960 R. Pound Selfridge i. 8 He always looked as if he had just come out of the bandbox. His mother..kept him just so.

1984 P. O'Brian Far Side of World vii. 256 With everything just so, shipshape and Bristol-fashion.

2009 C. H. Elliott & L. L. Smith Obsessive-compulsive Disorder for Dummies iv. xv. 229 They view their need for symmetry and order as the right way to be..in spite of family and friends complaining, teasing, or even getting angry with the ‘just so’ behaviors.

1886 Lantern (New Orleans) 15 Sept. 4/2 It looks as though the contractors and the aldermen are just so, and fully understand each other.

1601 R. Dolman tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. III. 163 These things come not to passe iust so in respect of the creatures.

1683 T. Tryon Way to Health xiv. 388 Just so shall we find this boasted Nobility to be nothing but Art, Fancy, Ostentation and Vanity.

a1726 J. Vanbrugh Provok'd Wife (1743) iv. 55 I did but offer in mere Civility to help her up the Steps into our Appartment; and with her gippen [sic] Fist—ay, just so, Sir. [Sir John knocks him down.]

1781 J. H. Campe Robinson the Younger 126 Robinson did just so with his lump of gold.

1831 J. Constable Let. 4 Dec. (1966) IV. 361 Was it now in its first state, I would rejoice to publish it just so.

1913 Amer. Jrnl. Theol. 17 37 The Jew thought just so concerning Moses. The Confucian..judged thus of Confucius and the Great Wisdom.

1969 R. A. Noblett Stavin' Chain 5 Now Stavin' Chain wuz a man just so: When he got good whiskey, he would gurgle it slow.

2008 S. Bowen Vampire Survival Guide 117 While this is unlikely, there will be those dedicated citizens who, very well armed, will do just so.

1655 A. Brewer Love-sick King iii. sig. E3 Thorn. How high de'you raise the Walls? Work. As you directed sir, full a hundred foot. Thorn. Right, and twelve in breadth.Work. Just so sir, 'twill be a pleasant walk to view the Town.

1670 J. Dryden & W. Davenant Shakespeare's Tempest ii. 28 Dor. O Sister, there it is, it walks about like one of us. Mir. I, just so, and has legs as we have too.

1790 F. Grose Provinc. Gloss. (ed. 2) Suppl. That's what, just so; you are right. North.

1795 Trial T. Hardy for High Treason II. 71 Lord Chief Justice Eyre... The King and his family sheltered themselves at the Convention, and were not restored to their liberty afterwards. Mr. Garrow. Just so—we are perfectly content to take it so.

1852 S. R. Maitland Eight Ess. 158 ‘Just so,’ replies the ultra-papist; ‘I believe you’.

1881 R. G. White Eng. without & Within xvi. 388 Just so, just so, is the most common phrase of general assent.

1919 J. Buchan Mr. Standfast v. 105 ‘Back to Glasgow to do some work for the cause,’ I said lightly. ‘Just so.’

1951 S. H. Bell December Bride ii. xix. 187 ‘Aye, I'm going over to Lusky Orange Hall t' the dance.’ Hamilton nodded absently. ‘Aye, just so.’

2012 P. A. Faber Maya Prophecy i. 12 ‘Women's roles in the Maya Post-classic period,’ I can't help retorting. ‘Well, yes, just so.’

1683 Mem. Sir J. Melvil Pref. sig. b3^v Thou mayst bend with the necessity of some Accidents, and yield to the times in some things, though not going just so as thou would have matters to go.

1751 S. Richardson Rambler No. 97. 579 When I courted and married my Lætitia, then a blooming Beauty, every Thing passed just so!

1794 Massachusetts Spy 3 Sept. A few years ago, every body supposed that if people did not behave just so, they ought to be punished.

1855 F. C. Adams Our World xxxii. 369 Whisking round the table, setting the cups just so, and spreading himself with exultation.

1887 W. D. Parish & W. F. Shaw Dict. Kentish Dial. 85 He's got a bad master, but he will have everything done just-so.

1939 C. Beaton Diary July in Self Portrait with Friends (1979) ix. 69 She tidied her shoulder straps meticulously and placed her fan just so.

1969 E. Bishop Compl. Poems 198 A raccoon..was the executioner. He was very fastidious and did everything just so.

2010 C. Seife Proofiness i. 26 Supermarkets select their fruit and arrange it just so and package it so that even mediocre produce looks delectable.

1971 M. Morris in Savacou No. 3/4. 37 Unfathomable pool, they said, That swallowed men and animals just so.

1989 Bomb (Port of Spain, Trinidad) 24 Nov. 15 A bride of 9 days ran to hell out of the house and marriage of her husband ‘just so’.

1996 E. Lovelace Salt iv. 47 One day just so in the road a woman come up and ask her if her name is Florence and when she says yes, the woman start abusing her about Reynold.

2002 Trinidad Guardian 7 Aug. 1 ‘You can't come in people house just so. You have to get a warrant,’ she said.