Why is it so hard to practice what we preach? This simple truth slipped my mind the day I stood before twenty eight innocent
faces and announced,
“All around you, people use it every day. You use it. I use it. We’ve lost touch with its purpose, though. When was the last time that we really paused to consider the function of the but?”
If you missed the problem, go back and read that aloud. Yup, those words really left my mouth.
The students attempted to suppress their giggles, at
least until they saw that I was laughing, too. Then it was time to get down to
business, for ‘The Function of The But’ has very serious grammatical and
social implications, and it should not be taken lightly.
Consider the following sentence starter:
The trip was great, but…
But what?
…but the beach was
too crowded.
…but we forgot to
put on sunscreen and now look like lobsters.…but our flight was delayed for hours on the way home.
Your brain is powerful and it has practiced, whether you
are aware of it or not. It already knows what kind of ending that sentence
needs.
Let’s use the first option for our analysis.
The trip was great,
but the beach was too crowded.
Two ideas are being joined here, separated by the
comma-but. (No wisecracks, please.)
(“Okay, class. Let’s take a look at the left side of The But,” I'd said a bit later.
Apparently my brain was absent that day. I simply
could not remember to think before speaking!)
‘The trip was great’
is a positive, complimentary statement.
On the right side of The But, we have ‘but the beach was too crowded’. Total
bummer, dude. Definite drawback. In this example, the function of The But is to
flip the tone of the sentence.
Does it work for all our examples listed above? Yup.
Does it work for all sentences and situations? Pretty
much.
‘But’ is a word that signals contrast. Other members of
this family include close relatives Yet, Although, and However, as well as that
pesky distant cousin Whereas. There are more. We don’t need to address them
now.
Grammatically, you can really confuse your audience if
you are not mindful of The But. Liberal, sloppy use of The But can be awkward,
misleading, and just plain perplexing.
Dinner was great,
but I really hope you make that recipe again.
Which recipe? The But is telling us that it must be
something different from what was included in the great dinner. Or maybe the diner
meant ‘but I really hope you NEVER make that recipe again’ and accidentally left out the
never. The construction of this sentence is breaking our bond with everything
we already know and love about but. The audience is unable to understand what
is being said.
The best signal word for the sentence above is probably
the great tonal maintainer, The And.
Dinner was great, and I really hope you make that recipe again.
The social responsibility of the function of The But is
equally valuable. Imagine that you’ve spend hours preparing a meal for
company. At the end of the visit when you’re walking your guests to the door,
one says, “Dinner was great, but—"
But what?
Once the speaker hangs that but out there, it is too
late. The recipient is already clenched and ready to receive the criticism. The
feelings are hurt before the sentence has even been completed.
It’s how we’ve been trained.
It’s practically a universal truth.
As a teacher, I had to be vigilant about my own use of
The But. If your teacher said, “Your project is great, but—" you would know
what was on the way. Flaws. Faults. Criticism that negates the compliment of
“great”.
Feedback that makes ‘great’ lose its meaning altogether.
To prevent this, I embraced The And.
“Your project is great, AND with a few minor adjustments
it will be spectacular." Okay, so it’s kind of doing the same thing. It feels
more optimistic, though, doesn’t it?
Whether you are a teacher, parent, sibling, or friend,
you have a responsibility to support those around you. For the sake of those
you love, think before you speak, and always be mindful of ‘The Function of The
But’.
