Does 誰と mean 誰と���?

Question

There is one sentence I am confused with in the below panel:

だから気に入らない、誰とつるむでもなく孤高を気取って表面上明るく接して上手くやれてると思ってるアイツが

I am bit confused about the use of 誰と. I think it is supposed to be 誰とも. Is it a typo? Perhaps not because も is placed in でもなく. If that's case then, 誰とつるむでもなく means something like "not hanging out with anyone but..."?

Also, I am not sure whether 誰とも also modifies verbs 気取って, 接して and やれてる, not just つるむ.

Answer 1

It's not a typo. This 誰と～する(わけ)でもない is a variant of the 誰とも～しない construction, with an added nuance of "(not) particularly". It's faster to learn from examples:

• どこにも行かない
  to go nowhere
• どこに行くでもない
  not to go anywhere in particular
• 何もしない
  to do nothing
• 何をするでもない
  to do nothing in particular; aimless
• 何にもならない
  to amount to nothing; meaningless
• 何になるでもない
  to amount to nothing in particular; not very meaningful
• 誰もいない部屋
  an empty room
• 誰がい���でもない部屋(から物音がする)
  (There's a sound from) a room where there is no one in particular
• 誰ともつるまず
  hanging out with no one
• 誰とつるむ(わけ)でもなく
  not hanging out with anyone in particular

A similar pattern is explained in this answer. In this construction, か is optional for some reason. For example, どこに行くでもない is the same as どこかに行く(わけ)でもない, but I feel the former feels slightly literary or sophisticated.

誰ともつるむでもなく (with two も) is perfectly understandable, too, but I feel it's a little redundant and awkward.

Answer 2

The other answer gives examples which use でもない. I have some examples that seem relevant, but which stray from that pattern. I don't know what to call these sentences, but I want to call them "delayed-も" sentences.

〜こともできない is a pattern:

• どうすることもできない
  can't do anything
• しかし、誰の助けを借りることもできない [narou]
  can't get anyone's help
• その顔からは何の感情を窺うこともできな�� [narou]
  can't see any expression

Miscellaneous:

• 何をやったとしても不思議じゃない [danganronpa]
  it wouldn't be strange no matter what was done (nothing would surprise me)
• どの引き出しに入っているのも、仕事の資料ばかり [danganronpa]
  what was in each and every drawer was just documents
• 毎夜三更を過ぎる頃、紀昌の家の屋上で何者の立てるとも知れぬ弓弦の音がする [名人伝]
  a sound not known to be caused by anything in particular (a sound of unknown origin)

I have some thoughts, but I'm not really sure how to explain these. I can't see a straightforward way to reword most of these.

There's a familiar grammar pattern, 〜ても used with a question word, which could be categorized with these delayed-も sentences.

By the way, the panel you posted has another interesting phrase, どんなに面倒臭いおじさんとの飲み会も.