And still we’re left puzzled.
Dear OP, could you please advise what’s wrong with the phrase “prior to”?
After some Googling, it seems that the argument against “prior to” is that the phrase is too formal (or stuffy). It’s pointed out that “before” is a perfectly fine word and that no sane person would use “posterior to” in place of “after”.
Maybe.
I still don’t give a fuck.
Of course not, the opposite to posterior to is anterior to. ‘Ante’ or ‘Post’ are more appropriate.
That’s true, bur posterior isn’t the opposite of prior, and “subsequent to” is common enough.
Oi! I’m just reporting what I learned after a 30 second Google, mateybollocks. Don’t gi’ a fuck about grammar missen; she always gave me shit Chrimbo prezzies.
If you really want to nitpick the BBC, try this, that happened this morning on Radio 4. Fucking hilarious.
NSFW!
ETA: “Making Jeremy Hunt the Culture Secretary was reckless in the extreme…”
He is too, Jeremy Hunt. A complete one …
Missen is a word that should be used far more often.
I get the feeling the OP has abandoned this thread. Poor thing, orphaned just before Christmas.
Turned a pointless thread into comedy gold! Glad I read to the end now..!
I love the Dope. A thread about to hit the two page mark, all about the correct usage of a preposition: “to”.
[Piper does quick googling to confirm that “to” is, in fact, a preposition, to pre-empt application of Gaudere’s law. Whew, yes it is. Hits “post”.]
The contagion is spreading… first Andrew Marr repeated it, now it’s reached parliament - a very apt home for the word.
But then has to return to hit “edit” later… 
yes, forgot the closing ]
you’d think I’d know how to use this SDMB thingie by now.
I really wish I hadn’t just updated my title, or it would be “Burritos Superme” right now.
You had to check whether “to,” in this context, was a preposition? Amateur.
Hey, I was pitted once for using a ligature (“æ” instead of “ae”). :eek:
One can’t be too careful around this place. 
Pit fail.
The problem here was not an inaccurate statement by the BBC, but rather the [del]OP’s insistence on interpreting the BBC’s statement in a manner that creates inaccuracy[/del] BBC’s twee phrasing.
Superb.
What’s fabulous is I was going to intentionally misspell “amateur,” but then when I went to make it “wrong” it came out right again, so I just said “fuck it.”
As Theodore Bernstein said, only* use prior to instead of before if you also use posterior to for after.
- There a few limited exceptions.