How many of you remember the teacher’s warning: \u00a0“I want this done by Monday, no ands, ifs or buts.” \u00a0If you’re in your forties and hail from the Maritimes, you heard it, whether directed at you or someone else. \u00a0It meant, or course, “no excuses.”<\/p>\n
However rarely “ands, ifs, or buts” is used today, the phrase contains a ripe assortment of conjunctions. \u00a0Conjunctions are, or course, words used to join ideas to form sentences.<\/p>\n
The most commonly used conjunction is and<\/em>. \u00a0While it has its uses, it’s not exactly a mark-fetcher from an English teacher’s (or professor’s) point of view. \u00a0What can be used instead, that marks might stick to a little better?<\/p>\n I read once that but<\/em> is logically equivalent to and<\/em>. \u00a0Logically equivalent, perhaps – yet so much better in so many cases. \u00a0Consider the following:<\/p>\n 1) Mother wants to make cupcakes and she needs more flour.<\/p>\n 2) Mother wants to make cupcakes but<\/strong> she needs more flour.<\/p>\n The first sentence states the two facts as being virtually independent. \u00a0The second one establishes the need for more flour in order to make the cupcakes. \u00a0Therefore, the word but<\/em> gives more meaning than and<\/em>.<\/p>\n Consider another example:<\/p>\n 3) I’ve narrowed the wall colour to a few possibilites, and I’m waiting for your opinion.<\/p>\n versus<\/p>\n 4) I’ve narrowed the wall colour to a few possibilites, but I’m waiting for your opinion.<\/p>\n The two sentences may be logically equivalent, but 4) conveys the idea that the speaker won’t decide until they talk to you.<\/p>\n I read that “and” and “but” are logically equivalent in a computer science manual. \u00a0The idea immediately impressed me. \u00a0At first, I didn’t believe it. \u00a0However, as I explored the comparison between “and” and “but”, I realized that, from a certain point of view, the manual was correct. \u00a0Still, people don’t commonly sense “and” and “but” as being equivalent, which is why “but” can offer richer meaning than “and.” \u00a0When I’m about to use “and”, I usually ask myself if “but” will work better. \u00a0I use “and” much less today than I did ten years ago.<\/p>\n I’ll be saying much more about conjunctions in future posts.<\/p>\n