Hello all,
This is the first time that I’m posting something after
several months of lurking under…

Now that you’re here, you might as well stay for dinner.

I might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb.

Continuously, without interruption, as in It’s been raining for days on end. This term, which might as well be put "seemingly without end"

Since he can’t get there in time, he might as well stay at home.

It’s just as well  that you came today, since Harry is here, too.

This is somewhat difficult for me. I understand the rough meaning or feel the air of the sentence but if I’m going to translate them into Korean, I can’t catch the subtle differences(or the meanings are not different?)Although they are same words-or idiom- "might as well", I don’t think they have the same meaning in each sentence. I would like to know a clear definition and usage of ‘might as well’..

[quote author=Youna link=board=idiom;num=1125649038;start=0#0 date=09/02/05 at 04:17:18]Hello all,
This is the first time that I’m posting something after
several months of lurking under…

Welcome, welcome. Although I’m a relative newbie myself.

Now that you’re here, you might as well stay for dinner.

The sense here is of almost grudging resignation. It’s the kind of thing you say to your adult children who’ve "conveniently" dropped in right about dinner time in the hope of cadging some home-cooked food off mum.

I might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb.

This is trickier, because it’s sort of two idioms run together. Back when the theft of livestock was a capital offence, the punishment was the same, whether one stole a lamb, or a sheep. The difference being that there’s much more meat on a fully grown sheep than there is on a lamb. So the sense here is that if one is committing a crime/sin/indiscretion, one is no better off for choosing the lesser option.

Continuously, without interruption, as in It’s been raining for days on end. This term, which might as well be put "seemingly without end"

Here the sense is "also could".

Since he can’t get there in time, he might as well stay at home.

Again, it’s a form of resignation, acceptance of the inevitable.

It’s just as well  that you came today, since Harry is here, too.

the just as well could be interpreted as "fortunately".  It is however used as a form of resignation as well.  

This is somewhat difficult for me. I understand the rough meaning or feel the air of the sentence but if I’m going to translate them into Korean, I can’t catch the subtle differences(or the meanings are not different?)Although they are same words-or idiom- "might as well", I don’t think they have the same meaning in each sentence. I would like to know a clear definition and usage of ‘might as well’..

The similarity is that they are all used to express a state of affairs to which the speaker is resigned (has come to terms with).

hope this helps rather than confuses.

Azh
(I might as well add something here - I usually do)

Welcome, Youna!

In addition to what azhreia posted, it may help you to remember that the phrases might as well and just as well are different ‘parts of speech’, grammatically, in their respective roles.

In the first phrase, might is actually the key word in the phrase.  It is what we call a modal auxiliary verb.  Modal verbs express obligation/expectation, permission, futurity, condition, etc.

In the phrase just as well, "just" means "equally".  So the phrase really means "equally as well".

As azh has already pointed out, the phrase might as well often indicates a degree of resignation, but this is not always the case.  Sometimes it is said as a means of expressing what I would call hesitant encouragement.  This is very much dependent on the context.

For example, if I were visiting my mother and planned to leave late in the afternoon, but a storm came up and it started pouring rain, I can guarantee you that if my Mom were to say to me, "It’s raining so hard right now, you might as well stay for dinner!", she would be saying it hopefully, because she really wanted me to stay.

(Sorry that sentence was so long. )

So I think you can see that, basically, might as well states preference.  Sometimes that preference is expressed with a degree of hope, sometimes with a degree of resignation, depending on context.

Here’s a fun page I found that uses some scripts from Seinfeld as exercises on using modals.

I thought it was pretty creative!

-Tim

Youna, I found a document which may be helpful to you.  I don’t speak Korean, so you’ll have to judge it for yourself:

Conspiracy in Korean modal verbs in light of v

-Tim

Thank you for the warm welcome and replies. I printed it out to read thoroughly.  ::)