# "Whilst" should be fucking banned **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 7, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681 "2004-04-07T03:35:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![agiantdwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8c91f0/32.png) [@agiantdwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agiantdwarf)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/1 "2004-04-07T03:35:51Z")
Is there any more pretentious word than “whilst”? Is there any reason to use “whilst” instead of “while”? Damn you whilst-users! ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/2 "2004-04-07T03:41:05Z")
Whilst perusing your post, I find myself amused, whilst being simultaneously apalled. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/3 "2004-04-07T03:43:37Z")
what about amidst? ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/4 "2004-04-07T03:45:03Z")
It doesn’t irritate me at all. It’s just an alternative to while and doesn’t sound more “correct” or more pretentious to my ears. Sure, it doesn’t say anything that “while” doesn’t, but does that mean that all synonyms shit you? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/5 "2004-04-07T03:48:54Z")
yes!!! I hate it!!! “whilst” is the most insignificant word ever created by the constant bastardisations of its speakers, let it drown in the chemical effluence of the Thames estuary ---
**Author:** ![agiantdwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8c91f0/32.png) [@agiantdwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agiantdwarf)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/6 "2004-04-07T03:56:11Z")
> [@lambchops](#): > > Sure, it doesn’t say anything that “while” doesn’t, but does that mean that all synonyms shit you? Nope, but from my experience, people use it to sound more intelligent. Misusing “whom” and “myself” similarly bug me. ---
**Author:** ![htns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@htns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/htns)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/7 "2004-04-07T03:58:12Z")
> [@buttonjockey308](#): > > Whilst perusing your post, I find myself amused, whilst being simultaneously apalled. Yes, Your Majesty. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/8 "2004-04-07T04:21:01Z")
Me, I’m just whilst-using in the dark. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/9 "2004-04-07T04:25:03Z")
> [@agiantdwarf](#): > > Is there any more pretentious word than “whilst”? Ergo? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/10 "2004-04-07T04:31:43Z")
::: shuffles cards :::: Anyone for a quick game of whilst? 😉 Seriously, Merriam-Webster’s 3rd New International says that it is a British and archaic synonym for “while” – but gives a second meaning, also archaic, of “until.” It’s a rather useless word, predominantly used in America by people with a penchant for pretentiousness, but a quite valid synonym. (I don’t think I’ve _ever_ seen it used with the “until” meaning, though.) But it fits the character of **Flora McFlimsey** , whose transmogrification into one of our present regulars was a pleasure to behold, but whose particular Edwardian style of posting I sometimes miss. ( **Ukulele Ike** , back me up here!) ---
**Author:** ![SanguineSpider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SanguineSpider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanguineSpider)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/11 "2004-04-07T04:38:02Z")
I use it to be funny and witty when I post, I NEVER speak it aloud… never. I promise. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/12 "2004-04-07T04:38:32Z")
So… “betwixt” is right out then? Blast! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/13 "2004-04-07T04:43:18Z")
If I changed my username to “Whilst,” would this count as a pitting? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/14 "2004-04-07T05:24:16Z")
I’ve used it in writing before, never spoken though. I think it has a certain poetic je-ne-sais-quois. Next up in the Pit: people who use the phrase “je ne sais quois.” ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/15 "2004-04-07T06:14:30Z")
Every now and then, I LIKE to sound pretentious. Dude. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/16 "2004-04-07T12:09:37Z")
I use “whilst” all the time. I was brought up amongst (sorry) whilst-users and that’s the way I am. I can change and start using “while” but I don’t like the way how _that_ sounds. So fuck off 😉 whilst whilst whilst whilst whilst whilst whilst whilst whilst whilst. Alright it sounds funny now. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/17 "2004-04-07T12:12:12Z")
Verily, mayhap you have issues, no? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/18 "2004-04-07T12:28:44Z")
Daffy Duck, (after accidentally removing his chaps and trousers while drawing his six-shooters): **"Slight pause whilst I adjust my accoutrement."** ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/19 "2004-04-07T12:36:52Z")
> [@agiantdwarf](#): > > Is there any more pretentious word than “whilst”? Is there any reason to use “whilst” instead of “while”? > > Damn you whilst-users! I thought the purpose of using _whilst_ was to demonstrate that you’re British. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/20 "2004-04-07T12:46:10Z")
Whilst perusing your missive I came to the conclusion that I am sympatico. I don’t know why people utilize pretentious words. Albeit the aforementioned “whilst” is not on of my especial bete noirs. I would rather not interface with anyone who utilises it because at this point in time we, fortuitously, are empowered to communicate using a new paradigm. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681.md?page=2)