While: Difference between revisions
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Undid revision 363859714 by BigBodBad: documentation of the dispute between both words warrants the existence of the article. |
wikipedia is not a dictionary on english usage; it's about topics that are not words, if you want to write an article about while/whilst, write an article specifically about that. |
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{{for|the computer programming construct|while loop}} |
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{{wiktionary}} |
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'''While''' and '''whilst''' are [[Grammatical conjunction|conjunction]]s whose primary meaning is "during the time that". An example is: |
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:The days were hot ''while'' we were on vacation. |
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:I read a magazine ''whilst'' I was waiting. |
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''While'' and ''whilst'' can nowadays legitimately be used in the contrastive sense of ''although'' or ''whereas'', provided that it is not ambiguous (although some commentators, such as [[Eric Partridge]], have frowned upon such use): |
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:''While'' Sally plays, Sue works. |
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This sentence can mean either "During the time that Sally plays, Sue works" or "Although Sally plays, Sue works". |
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''[[A Dictionary of Modern English Usage|Fowler's Modern English Usage]]'' disapproves of several uses of "while". At times it is inappropriately used as a conjunctive: actual conjunctions such as "and" should be used instead. Its usage as "elegant variation" is also discouraged, as it is masquerading as a "formal word".<ref>"while": ''[[A Dictionary of Modern English Usage|Fowler's Modern English Usage]]'', Second Edition, ed. Sir [[Ernest Gowers]] 1965 and 1983, and ''Pocket Fowler's Modern English Usage''. Ed. Robert Allen. Oxford University Press, 1999</ref> |
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In some northern British dialects of English, ''while'' is translated into standard English as ''until''.<ref>'''while''' until – indexes p. 142, ''Basic Broad Yorkshire'' by Arnold Kellet, ISBN 1-870071-82-4. Smith Settle Ltd., 2001</ref> |
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==While and whilst== |
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In standard [[British English]] and [[Australian English]], ''whilst'' is synonymous with ''while'' in meaning and usage. In [[American English]] and [[Canadian English]], ''whilst'' can be considered pretentious or archaic.<ref name="articlesbase.com">http://www.articlesbase.com/languages-articles/english-usage-whilst-or-while-795377.html</ref><ref>Strunk, W., and White, E.B. ''The Elements of Style''. 4th ed. 2000. Allyn & Bacon, Boston. Pg. 63-64.</ref> |
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Some publications on both sides of the Atlantic disapprove of ''whilst'' in their style guides (along with "amidst" and "amongst"); for example: |
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* Times Online Style Guide: "'''while''' (not whilst)"<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2941-583,00.html</ref> |
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* Guardian Style Guide: "'''while''' not whilst"<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide/page/0,5817,184822,00.html</ref> |
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* Hansard: the Canadian Parliament record: "'''while''' not whilst"<ref>http://www.hansard.ca/styleguide.pdf</ref> |
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The American Heritage Guide writes that "[w]hile using ['whilst'] runs the risk of sounding pretentious, it can sometimes add a literary or ironically formal note to a piece of writing."<ref>{{cite book |
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|title=The American Heritage guide to contemporary usage and style |
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|author=Houghton Mifflin Company |
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|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, |
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|year=2005 |
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|ISBN=0618604995 |
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|page=503 |
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}}</ref> |
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Notably, there are no style guides that explicitly recommend the usage of ''whilst'' over ''while'' in any circumstance whatsoever. The general consensus among scholars of English is that ''whilst'' is an unnecessary and archaic word whose primary usage is by Britons who prefer what they perceive as a more 'noble' word. Its etymology derives from the early English ''whiles'' and, simply put, ''while'' is the word that has replaced ''whilst'' in modern English<ref name="articlesbase.com"/>, just as ''thee'' and ''thou'' were replaced by ''you''. |
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==See also== |
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*[[Linguistic prescription]] |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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[[Category:English words]] |
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[[Category:American and British English differences]] |
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Revision as of 03:31, 12 June 2010
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