English term (edited): do as I say, now

Yes, but the idiom is in fact 'do as I say' — i.e. "do what I am telling you to do"

The 'now' doesn't have it's full value here of 'now, at this very time', but is just a sort of conjunction to take the speaker's train of thought from one thing to the next; it is often used to soften an imperative expression, and one might often say to a child "Now, be a good boy and fetch the milk", or more colloquially still, "Be a good boy, now, and fetch the milk"


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Note added at 8 mins (2007-10-27 08:45:59 GMT)
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Here's the much better explanation given of this aprtiucalr usage of 'now' by NS OED:

"II With temporal sense weakened or lost.
5 In or (later) as a command or request, or in a question, giving any of various tones (exclaiming, expostulating, reproving, soothing, etc.): I insist, I warn you, I ask, I pray, I beg, tell me. Also now then."

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Note added at 10 mins (2007-10-27 08:47:38 GMT)
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oops, sorry! ...this particular...

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Note added at 2 hrs (2007-10-27 11:08:19 GMT)
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I really think you are trying to make it more complicated than it is, and I certainly don't think your interpretation of "I'm giving up, so you should do so too" is correct at all; if it were "do as I do", then that might be implied; but here, it seems like quite the reverse:

"Go on, give up — admit finally that you're wrong and I'm right, and do what I tell you to do"

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Note added at 3 hrs (2007-10-27 12:19:16 GMT)
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Right! NOW I see what you mean — it's awful, I've read it countless times, and each time, only 'seen' what I was expecting to see!

OK, that does change things — I can't help feeling there is SOMEthing wrong with the sentence as it stands. I would feel much more at ease with a comma in there, like this:
"Give up - so do I, as I say now"

But the odd thing is, "so do I" doesn't really fit very well after "Give up" — one possible meaning would have been perhaps better expressed as "Well, give up then! I'm going to do so too.."

'give up – so do I' just doesn't ring true with me.

Or else "Well, you give up, and then I will too."

And the "as I say now" sounds odd too — if it means what I thought, requiring a comma before it, then I'd have expected it to be "as I now say" — but even that sounds pretty stilted.

All depends on the context in which this appears, and the overall quality / style of the English, which is quite impossible to judge from such a tiny extract.

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Note added at 4 hrs (2007-10-27 13:05:11 GMT)
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No, it is neither: "now that I'm speaking" or "as I already said a moment ago" — though it is very difficult to be sure with this apparently flawed sentence

But I would understand 'now' as meaning 'the present situation (compared with the previous situation)' — the suggestion is perhaps that the person has changed their mind, from what they though then to what they think now

'say' doesn't have a sense of 'talk/speak' here, more the sense of 'express/hold an opinion'


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Note added at 9 hrs (2007-10-27 17:58:29 GMT)
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RIGHT! Now we at last have a meaningful amount of context, all is revealed! Of course, we need to know what comes before, and, more crucially, what follows. Here is a more meaningful chunk of the original text:

[a letter to the Earth from Mars]
"...and you’ve already blurted yes take me yes how can I resist yes I give up yes. So do I as I say now, you’ve already done it, you’re in my arms like an infant, a ward, a swan. Give up, you gave up already, you’re mine."

The author's use of punctuation isn't exactly helpful, but it DOES make sense:

So do I... refers to what has gone before; arguably, the 'I give up', but debatably also what precedes this in the letter anyway.

...as I say now... would be easier to follow if the reported speech that follows had been in quotes, thus:

...as I say now, "You've already done it..." etc.

So I too am giving up (etc.) in the very act of saying this at this juncture.

I'm sure the experts among you will be able to analyse it a whole lot better than I, but I just wanted to point out that having the full context really does make all the difference here!

[Oh, and as a footnote, and due reverence for the 'celebrity' of the author notwithstanding, this 'fine, very cared-for page' does indeed include at least one typo — though it most certainly isn't the 'I' we've all been worrying about above!


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Note added at 13 hrs (2007-10-27 21:40:12 GMT)
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The language makes sense, as it stands, though the philosophical message behind it remains rather more of a mystery to me. I think it is just the author's style of punctuation that leads to confusion...