as friendly/cheerful/miserable etc as ever
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishas friendly/cheerful/miserable etc as everas friendly/cheerful/miserable etc as everas friendly etc as someone or something usually is George was as miserable as ever. The food was as bad as ever! → everExamples from the Corpusas friendly/cheerful/miserable etc as ever• The lads were as cheerful as ever but guarded, like the possessors of unwelcome news.