even as we speak

even as we speak (not comparable)

1. Right at the moment, right now, contemporaneously.
   • 1872 April 1, Julian Hawthorne, “The Mullenville Mystery”, in Scribner’s Monthly, volume 3, number 6, page 687:

     By the way, Sam Gumple, the town beau, hates Ned Holland with a deadly hatred, which logically proves him jealous; and, even as we speak, behold the cause!

   • 1998 June 22, Christopher Farley et al., “!Viva La Musica Cubana!”, in Time:

     At 11 p.m. the man checking names at the door of the Village Vanguard, the New York City jazz club where Miles played, where Monk played, says Jesus hasn’t arrived but his plane “is touching down even as we speak.”

   • 2005 November 2, Sewell Chan, “Testimony Completed in Suit Over Searches in Subways”, in New York Times, retrieved 22 July 2009:

     “There is no doubt in my mind that the introduction of bag searches—even though it’s random, even though it’s not 100 percent—dramatically improves the security posture of this huge, sprawling subway system, which I believe is a top-tier target of Al Qaeda right now, even as we speak,” said the police official, Michael A. Sheehan.

• Often used in a manner which conveys emphasis, exaggeration, urgency, or a comic effect.