so much as
adv1
Even; suggests a minimum, especially regarding what might be expected.
- Without so much as a by your leave, he walked into the office and started digging through my files. Then off he went, without so much as a ‘goodbye’.
- If she so much as looked at another man, I’d divorce her!
1 more example
- Well, she seems to have lost all interest in the horses. For a week now she has driven past the stables with never so much as 'good morning'!1927 March 5, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place”, in The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, published June 1927, →OCLC, page 280:
2
But rather.
- I’m not enjoying the meal so much as admiring the atmosphere.