Structure
Quote + とばかり（に）
Noun +（だ）+ とばかり（に）
Details
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Formal
Rare Kanji
許り
About とばかり（に）
とばかり is a construction that is often used to show that something is being done 'as if to say (A)', or 'seeming that (A)'. It is a combination of the case-marking particle と in its 'quotation' use, and the adverbial particle ばかり, exhibiting that something is 'basically exactly as described'. Due to this, とばかり simply indicates that while (A) is as described, it is not literally the case.
とばかり can appear after almost any word, as the と is creating a quote. に will often follow ばかり when the sentence is going on to describe what is actually happening.
とばかりに is an abbreviation of と言わんばかり 'to only just not be at the point where (A) is said', which itself will still be seen quite often.
In this case, 言わん is an abbreviation of 言わぬ, making use of the classical auxiliary verb ぬ used for negation.
Caution
As とばかりに will be used to describe the way that something 'looks like it is about to say', it won't be used for describing the speaker themselves. However, it may occasionally be seen being used about the speaker if the sentence is in third person.
Examples
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小説：「 なかなかお目にかかれない美しい景色なので武はここぞとばかりにカメラを手にし、撮影した。」
Novel: 'It's a beautiful scene that you don't see very often, so Takeshi took the opportunity to grab his camera and take some pictures.'
小説：「洋服店に入るなり、長いことこのときを待っていたとばかりに、店員が声をかけてきた。」
Novel: 'As soon as he entered the clothing store, the clerk approached him, as if she had been just waiting for this very moment for a long time.'
小説：「もうあなたとははなしたくない」とばかりに彼はドアをばたんと閉めた。
Novel: 'He slammed the door as if to say "I don't want to talk with you anymore".'
スーパーで閉店が近づき食品などが割引される時間帯になると、主婦たちはここぞとばかりに多くの買い物をした。
As the closing time of the supermarket approached, when food and other items were discounted, housewives took the opportunity and did a lot of shopping.
「おまえも黙れ」とばかりに手でテーブルを叩いた。
She slammed the table with her hand as if to say 'Silence!'.
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とばかり（に） – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (2 in total)
Jake
as if (to say), seeming that
Structure
Quote + とばかり（に）
Noun +（だ）+ とばかり（に）View on Bunpro
casual
The combination of information in this sentence seems confusing:
盗賊たちが待っていたとばかりに通行人を止めたのです！
Seeming that they had been waiting, the robbers stopped the passersby!
Hint:
A formal structure, implying that something is done as if to say (A). Just with (A) acting as the trigger, (B).“Seeming that they had been waiting”…
Robbers were waitingacted as a trigger for stopping the passerby? What does that mean? The robbers thought to themselves, “hey, we are waiting (for something else) anyway, let’s stop that guy!”?Or is this about robbers being in the right spot at the right time as if they were waiting for this specific passerby.
nminer
Just read this sentence today. I agree the translation isn’t the best. I interpreted it as “as if they were waiting.”
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