# "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:** 3
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/41 "2004-04-08T15:29:30Z")
I think his postion is no 34 in the Spama-Sutura, “talking out of the rear”. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/42 "2004-04-08T16:31:44Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Every so often, just to be obnoxious, my Dad uses “dastn’t”. > … > I don’t know for sure if it’s a real word, but it’s real in our little world. It is. It’s the contraction of “dare not.” [Penguin Random House](http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20010126) As for “Does ‘whilst’ make you sound pretentious or British?” is there really a difference? ---
**Author:** ![jmpride62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@jmpride62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmpride62)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/43 "2004-04-08T16:58:08Z")
'Scuse me whilst I kiss the sky 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/44 "2004-04-08T17:16:18Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Does “whilst” really have the same pretentious feel to it in the UK as it does in the USA? When I hear Brits say it, it just sounds like part of the rest of the lingo: “Whilst I was putting the body in the boot…” No, it doesn’t sound pretentious here. At least not to me. I use it all the time and I’ve never batted an eyelid when anyone else has. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bc8723/32.png) [@coffeecam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecam)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/45 "2004-04-08T17:50:13Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Anyone who types, or god forbid, actual speaks the word “methinks” deserves physical punishment IMO. methinks thou dost protest to much. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/46 "2004-04-08T18:03:29Z")
Philistines and primates, the lot o’ ya. People like the OP won’t be happy 'til the human language hast decended back to the realm of grunting and hooting. And besides, some of us that are working on a Shakespeare production oftentimes can’t helpt but slip into archaic speech. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/47 "2004-04-09T00:19:49Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > Verily, mayhap you have issues, no? Egads! Verily was the first word that crossed my mind reading the OP. I must endeavor anew to go aseeking still more abstruse jargon to imply, sans directly declaring, the intellectual superiority that is mine own. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/48 "2004-04-09T00:32:00Z")
> [@gum](#): > > Whilst is bad alright. > > That said; I HATE \* ‘that said;’. \* Please think of something else. My teeth hurt when I read it. Just genuinely curious : what is wrong with “that said”? I use it quite often since it’s similar to the commonly used french “ceci dit”. Is “that said” actually weird or pretentious? ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/49 "2004-04-09T00:35:25Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Anyone who types, or god forbid, actual speaks the word “methinks” deserves physical punishment IMO. Same question than above : what’s wrong exactly with “methinks”. I read it so often (in particular on this board, in fact) that I began using it too. Is it improper or something? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/50 "2004-04-09T01:30:29Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Same question than above : what’s wrong exactly with “methinks”. I read it so often (in particular on this board, in fact) that I began using it too. Is it improper or something? I don’t know if this is correct or not, but the word sure SOUNDS Shakespeareanm and quoting the Bard might certainly be perceived as unnecessary pretense. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/51 "2004-04-09T02:46:30Z")
Gadzooks! Methinks this thread, whilst being mildly entertaining, lies betwixt droll, and deadly bland. That said, I do indeed opine, apropos the state of our linguistic lexicon. Perchance an opportunity shall arise for one and all to confabulate the confounding circumstances thereof. Alas, such a convocation subsists in no format i have yet heretofor encountered. Still, I dastn’t hypothesize the fortuity of the argumentation with bounteous, albeit obtuse, excitations. Nay, such desultory meanderings are the hob goblins of abundantly subjacent percipience than that which I presently command. ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/52 "2004-04-09T04:32:58Z")
> [@don't mind me](#): > > Me, I’m just whilst-using in the dark. The BBQ Pit is a rock to whined a thread around. ---
**Author:** ![Burnt\_Sugar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@Burnt\_Sugar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Sugar)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/53 "2004-04-09T08:07:51Z")
> [@Freiheit](#): > > Even worse, IMO, for Britishism used by pretentious people: > > Maths > AAARRRGGG Everyone I know IRL says this. :shrug: That’s just what it’s called here. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/54 "2004-04-09T08:18:51Z")
> [@Burnt Sugar](#): > > Everyone I know IRL says this. :shrug: That’s just what it’s called here. Besides which math sounds like you lost an “s” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/55 "2004-04-09T09:51:16Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Oh, yeah…the “methinks” is right up there with “behest.” Don’t even THINK about it! Eh? I agree ‘methinks’ is generally used just for effect, but surely ‘behest’ is sometimes just the correct word? How would you rephrase “I went at his behest.”? > [@](#): > > The most pretentious word ever Dude, you’re asking for it… ---
**Author:** ![Burnt\_Sugar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@Burnt\_Sugar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Sugar)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/56 "2004-04-09T09:54:08Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > Besides which math sounds like you lost an “s” 😃 Yeah, Math (-s) just sounds really weird to _us_! ---
**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 9, 2004, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/57 "2004-04-09T10:15:17Z")
Only because we didn’t study mathematic. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/58 "2004-04-09T20:41:19Z")
I was just looking around at freelance jobs and saw “liaise” used as a verb. Instead of serving as a liaison, apparently, I need to liaise with people. What is this world coming to? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/59 "2004-04-09T21:09:58Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > What is this world coming to? A full and complete stop? Please exit the bus in an orderly manner, and make sure to take all of your belongings with you. Thanks for riding Pretentious Words Lines, and have a great day! ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681/60 "2004-04-09T23:55:37Z")
> [@Boyo Jim](#): > > I don’t know if this is correct or not, but the word sure SOUNDS Shakespeareanm and quoting the Bard might certainly be perceived as unnecessary pretense. Oooopss…For some reason, I had assumed it rather erred too much on the “modern slang” side. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whilst-should-be-fucking-banned/238681.md?page=4)