because info

[David Barnhart]

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'!"





My son (a student at SUNY-Potsdam) says that he's heard it said out loud and
that the commonest is the phrase "because reasons."  It's mostly humorous he
thinks.



Regards,

David



barnhart at highlands.com

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org