because info

[Ben Zimmer]

On Sun, Jan 5, 2014 at 9:46 AM, Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:
>
>
> I posted on "Because X" in 2011, which I believe was the first discussion of the
> phenomenon, http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1108C&L=ADS-L&P=R6147.
> Then there was a Language Log thread in 2012, http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4068.
> When did it suddenly become apparent that "because" was so predominant in 2013?

In terms of metalinguistic commentary, John was certainly in the
vanguard. There was a flurry of interest in July 2012:

Laura Bailey, Linguist Laura, 7/2/12:
http://linguistlaura.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/because-reasons.html

Gretchen McCulloch, All Things Linguistic: 7/5/12:
http://allthingslinguistic.com/post/26542624054/because-reasons

Mark Liberman, Language Log, 7/12/12:
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4068

...but then there wasn't much followup until Neal did his Grammar Girl script:

Neal Whitman, Grammar Girl, 10/18/13:
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/because-as-a-preposition

Stan Carey, Sentence First, 11/13/13:
http://stancarey.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/because-has-become-a-preposition-because-grammar/

Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 11/19/13:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/11/english-has-a-new-preposition-because-internet/281601/

Note that the recent coverage has followed Neal by calling "because" a
preposition. I refrained from calling it that in the WOTY press
release, and now Gretchen McCulloch provides an extensive argument
against treating the new "because" as a preposition:

http://allthingslinguistic.com/post/72252671648/why-the-new-because-isnt-a-preposition-but-is

--bgz

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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