ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν
From LSJ
μέγα γὰρ τὸ τῆς θαλάσσης κράτος → great is the power of the country that controls the sea, control of the sea is a great thing, the dominion of the sea is a great matter, the rule of the sea is a great matter, the rule of the sea is indeed a great matter, control of the sea is a paramount advantage
Greek > English (Woodhouse)
almost, as the saying is, for instance, not to make a short matter long, one may say, practically, roughly speaking, so to say, so to speak, to say it in a word, to use a figure of speech, we may say, what is more