# Meantime-Meanwhile Usage **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 30, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meantime-meanwhile-usage/639376 "2012-10-30T23:28:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meantime-meanwhile-usage/639376/1 "2012-10-30T23:28:36Z")
Earlier today I heard a network news personality begin a sentence with “In the meanwhile…” Is this correct? Seems to me the “in the” is not necessary and begininning the sentence with “Meanwhile…” would be better. If “in the” is going to be used, would it be not preferable to use “meantime?” For example…“In the meantime…” ---
**Author:** ![sundog66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@sundog66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sundog66)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meantime-meanwhile-usage/639376/2 "2012-10-31T00:11:27Z")
I suppose it depends on what you mean by “correct”. But for what it’s worth, The Oxford English Dictionary has attestations of “in the meanwhile” going back as far as 1375. Here are some selected attestations (bolding mine): [QUOTE=OED] a1375 William of Palerne (1867) 1148 Boþe partiȝes..made hem alle merie **in þe mene while.** c1395 Chaucer Friar’s Tale 1445 **In this meene while** This yeman gan a litel for to smyle. 1786 Marquis de Lafayette Let. 2 Aug. in J. Ledyard Journey through Russia (1966) 100 **In the mean while** Baron de Grimm advises..Ledyard not to Throw a way Any other opportunity that might offer. 1908 H. G. Wells First & Last Things iii. viii. 123 The organized state..has not arrived..and **in the meanwhile** they must act like its anticipatory agents. 1986 Daily Tel. 10 Nov. 18 **In the meanwhile** , the Government is effectively admitting that state spending is out of control. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meantime-meanwhile-usage/639376/3 "2012-10-31T05:37:07Z")
I think the best answer you could get is to have a poll in IMHO and see if people think it sounds wrong. There are no clear rules about this, as far as I know, so descriptivism is your only choice. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meantime-meanwhile-usage/639376/4 "2012-10-31T15:41:09Z")
“Meanwhile” is a conjunctive adverb; “meantime” is a noun. However, “meanwhile” is also used as a synonym for “meantime”. I think it’s a shame that we water words down to the point where they’re all synonymous, and we lose subtle shadings of meaning. I recommend avoiding falling into that pit. But we can’t say someone is wrong when they fall in the pit; we can only say that maybe their usage is not the best. For example, “assure”, “ensure”, and “insure” can all be used as synonyms, but I cringe whenever I hear one of them substituted for the particular meaning of one of the others. ---
**Author:** ![Chris\_Luongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Chris\_Luongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chris_Luongo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meantime-meanwhile-usage/639376/5 "2012-10-31T17:33:22Z")
I always thought that meantime=consecutive and meanwhile=concurrent. Examples: Due to bad weather, the pizza delivery was late at arrive. I was very hungry, so, in the meantime I ate some potato chips I already had at home. OR: I was watching the game in the living room and eating pizza. Meanwhile, my wife sat in the kitchen eating a salad and reading a book; she likes neither pizza nor sports.