Some Misused Words.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 191, 13 August 1931, Page 8

Some Misused Words.

r JpiIE USE of “since” was the subject of a letter yesterday by a correspondent who regarded it as an injustice to the word to use it in any sense other than that' of time. Maybe it is a weed in the language in the sense of “ seeing that, because, and considering,” but it is too firmly implanted to be rooted out now. Even Shakespeare uses it in a causal clause, although in his day it was followed by “that”:

Since that my penitence comes after all, imploring pardon.

Because, for, since, as and inasmuch as are dealt with in the following note by W ebster:

These particles are. used, in certain connections, to assign the yeason of a thing. . . . “Because (by cause) is the strongest and most emphatic; as. I myself because I was afraid. ‘ For ts not quite so strong; as, in Shakespeare, 1 hate him. for he is a Christian. “ Since Is less formal and more incidental than ■'because”; as, I will do it, since you request me. It more commonly begins a sentence, as, since your decision is made I will say no more. “ As ” is still more incidental than since, and points to some existing fact by way of assigning a reason. Thus we say, as I knew him to be out of town I did not call. “Inasmuch as” seems to carry with it a kind of qualifi-

«-ation which does not seem to belong to the rest. Thus when wo say. I am read.' to accept your proposal, inasmuch as I believe it is the best you can offer, we mean it is only with this understanding that we can accept it. Good writers regard the use of the causal “ as,” except at the beginning of a sentence, as a thing to be avoided. The word “ repartee ” is pronounced rep-ar-tee, with the accent on the “ tee.” The “ partie ” (pronounced par-tee, with the accent on the “ tee ”), which we hear of at the Bridge table, is a French word, meaning a match or game. In Bridge parlance “to play the partie ” means to play the best of three rubbers without changing partners. TOUCHSTONE.