Wednesday, August 04, 2021

Merely Musing

I sometimes sit alone at home with the lights off, musing about one or another of life's mysteries, such as how the word "but" came to have the meaning "except."

2 Comments:

At 9:43 PM, Blogger Kevin Kim said...

"There but for the grace of God go I."
"Everyone but Roland had a parachute."

Yes, indeed. Also "merely":

"He is but a stripling, a whelp!"
"I have but twenty pence to my name."

Any other uses of "but" that aren't related to its status as a coordinating conjunction?

 
At 10:19 PM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Also "only," but that's just another "merely," and "just," too, but that is also only another "merely."

The list is short, yet useful.

Jeffery Hodges

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