Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2018 September 1

= September 1 =

Nevertheless
It’s just struck me how strange this word is. Where does it come from? Do we have similar constructions? Temerarius (talk) 14:39, 1 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Is nonetheless similar enough to count? --51.52.167.242 (talk) 16:08, 1 September 2018 (UTC)
 * It's similar but "never" has two syllables. I'm not sure if it's "similar enough to count". Bus stop (talk) 17:00, 1 September 2018 (UTC)


 * "Nevertheless" is a Middle English construction that used to be three words. "Nonetheless" is quite a bit more recent. Yet another kind of similar term is "notwithstanding". ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 17:34, 1 September 2018 (UTC)


 * I once heard a speech by a retired newspaper editor who was speaking of writing the editorial/opinion articles for his paper. He said that when he got to end, and it was near publication time, and the paper needed more content, he would simply write the words, "On the other hand...", and carry on for a few more paragraphs. English seems to have evolved a number of these expressions over the years. I've been trying to think of more recent inventions along the same lines. Maybe "So..." works for some younger folk, at least in spoken English. HiLo48 (talk) 01:05, 2 September 2018 (UTC)


 * "Never" itself is derived from two words: "not ever" / "n'ever" (so nevertheless is actually not-ever-the-less). 2606:A000:1126:4CA:0:98F2:CFF6:1782 (talk) 01:20, 2 September 2018 (UTC)


 * notwithstanding, albeit, heretofore, wherewithal, inasmuch as, insofar as. —Stephen (talk) 09:41, 4 September 2018 (UTC)