> If one cannot exhaustively find a sufficient reply to give in thanks after so much time than I'd say that's logically identical to being unable to reply "in any way".
That is true, but that's not evidence that "ever" can mean "in any way". "You can count on me" and "I won't let you down" are precisely equivalent at the full-sentence level, but there are no equivalences between the individual words (barring "you"/"you" and "I"/"me").
That is true, but that's not evidence that "ever" can mean "in any way". "You can count on me" and "I won't let you down" are precisely equivalent at the full-sentence level, but there are no equivalences between the individual words (barring "you"/"you" and "I"/"me").