because info

[Neal Whitman]

Although the humorous, meme-like uses are certainly still out there, "because X" has also developed into an irony-free construction used by younger speakers. My 15yo son often says things like "because band" (ie because of marching band rehearsal or performance) or "because more time" (because he'll have more time during vacation). There are also the examples I quoted in this script I wrote for Grammar Girl: http://t.co/ZzLiYn3ad8

Neal

> On Jan 4, 2014, at 11:49 AM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: because info
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Ack!! Those are two very different uses of "because"! "Because
> Benghazi!" is very different from "Because tired". The first one is
> actually a very rigid structure "because [insert meme]" that simply
> treats the inserted meme as a full clause (another, much older example
> might be "because my left foot!"--although "my left foot!" may well be
> derived as a shortened version of a full clause, at some point, by the
> time it is inserted into this structure, it has already been
> _memefied_--compare, "I won!" "You won, my left foot!"). The second one,
> "Because tired" seems to be an anaphoric development somewhat analogous
> to parts of LOLCat grammar. I'm actually somewhat disappointed that
> these two are being lumped together. The apparent structural similarity
> looks ephemeral to me.
>
>     VS-)
>
>> On 1/4/2014 11:05 AM, David Barnhart wrote:
>> The American Dialect Society pronounced is Word of the Year 2013 (last
>> night) the word _because_ when used with an immediately following noun or
>> adjective etc.  In part their press release says:
>>
>>
>>
>> "This year the very old word _because_ [from Middle English, about 1300]
>> exploded with new grammatical possibilities in informal online [?] use,"
>> Zimmer said.  "No longer does _because_  have to be followed by _of_ or a
>> full clause.  Now one often sees tersely worded rationales like 'because
>> science' or 'because reasons.'  You might not go to a party 'because tired.'
>> As one supporter put it, _because_ should be Word of the Year 'because
>> useful'!"
> ...
>
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