I’ve noticed that British writers sometimes use the word “whilst,” which to my provincial American eyes looks odd. Is it pronounced with a long or a short “i”? And what rules of grammar govern when you use “whilst” versus when you use “while”?
I pronounce it ‘wylst’. Some vague details on usage right here.
Concurring with Crusoe. I didn’t even know it wasn’t used in America. Wylst.
I’ve always been pronouncing it with a long I (rhymes with nice). Is this incorrect?
Thank you, Crusoe! From that site:
would seem to explain why I couldn’t quite figure out the pattern for it. But at least I’ll pronounce it correctly now!
It’s not in Canadian English either. I never heard it until an Australian/English co-worker used it and I asked her what it meant…
like while with a “st” sounds. pile, mile, nile sort of noise.
not like will with a “st” sound.
i think there is some suggestion that the ST at the end makes the meaning more passive.
“I was cutting the grass WHILE my wife pruned the roses.”
“The grass was being cut WHILST my wife pruned the roses.”
but a) i could be wrong…
and b) nobody really cares that much.
I just wanted to mention that I used the word “whilst” today. No one says it here (Chicagoish). I think it makes me sound more sophisticated.
Whoo! Sophisticated! Awesome!
Whilst reading Irishgirl’s post, I decided that, while point a. could be correct or incorrect, point b. was definitely wrong.
I’m an Australian studying at grad school in the US, and when i used ‘whilst’ in a paper my professor told me to use ‘while’ instead. She said that ‘whilst’ was considered somewhat archaic.
According to Fowlers Modern English Usage (third edition, 1996), the two are essentially interchangeable, but ‘whilst’ is “not used in AmE.”
I like whilst - it has a good sound to it.
I use whilst quite a lot too. It is very common here in Australia but I have a linguistics professor who chides anybody for using it as he also says it is archaic. Mind you, he’s English and so much of his language is non-standard for Australians. I always thought he was a little prescriptive considering he teaches linguistics.
Like mhendo, I like the way it sounds and could get by without it but why should I?1
I have a question too. For many years now Americans have been using the word “lay” as both present and past tense. For example, “Why don’t you lay down now” and “I was just laying in bed when it happened”. This is incorrect but has been used for so long, I’m wondering if it is now accepted usage in America.
Secondly, I’ve noticed that even English people have started (mis-)using this word. Has this ghastly trend crossed the Atlantic?
I’ve used it, but incorrectly. For me whilst takes the place of “while I was” so rather then saying while I was going to the park, I would say “whilst going to the park.” But then only to certain people.
We Americans do like reinventing the language. It helps keep us from growing into our parents.
To pennylane:
Fowler’s Modern English Usage says that the only acceptable use of lay in the present tense is as a transitive verb meaning to put something down, or to put it to rest.
e.g. please lay it on the table
As you are aware, the examples which you gave should read:
Why don’t you lie down now?
I was just lying in bed when it happened.
According to Fowler’s, confusion between the verbs to lay and to lie “is taken to be certain evidence of imperfect education or is accepted in regional speech as being a deep-rooted survival from an earlier period.” The Oxford English Dictionary says that lay “is only dialectical or an illiterate substitute for lie.” As Fowler’s ponts out, the fact that lay shares an “identity of form with the past tense of lie no doubt largely accounts for the confusion.”
Note that both the OED and Fowler’s are English sources, and that an American dictionary or usage book may give a somewhat different interpretation based on the use of the words in the US.
Thank you mhendo; I was aware of the transitive usage of the word, but had no proof until now of the imperfect education of those who use it incorrectly. I shall be flashing a copy of Fowler’s in their faces from now on…
I first heard whilst while listening to Genesis:
Forever drifting slowly towards a hazy emptiness
Whilst water slips into the sea
and King Crimson:
The gardener plants an evergreen
Whilst trampling on a flower
and realized it was a British usage that I’d never heard from the Allman Brothers or Frank Zappa.
Something in the British must prefer longer endings extending the length of words. “Towards” is another example. In British English towards ending with -s is the only form used. While in American English you can say it with or without the -s, and the shorter form toward is preferred.
Canadians talk like Americans, they only spell like Brits (and that only aboot half the time).
In that case perhaps you should have said:
“I think it makes one sound more sophisticated”
Using the word “while” can sound a bit on the ordinary side eh? Whilst one can seem a fraction more “la de da” if one should so choose