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English Has a New Preposition, Because Internet

theatlantic.com

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Re: English Has a New Preposition, Because Internet

#121

Post by __pThrow »

dnautics wrote: post #83
__pThrow wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and instead of claiming it to be "explicitly ironic" as the author does, I had actually thought as I read it, it's mostly "implicitly fuck you."

it's usually used in non-sequitur situations where a rational explanation for an individual or entity in power is lacking. For example. "Q: why does the TSA allow me to 20 miniature scope bottles but not one big scope bottle to get past security? A: Because, f-you, that's why." It seems like in most of these "because, X" constructs, there is an appeal to an agent that has a higher authority or extremely potent, or su…

> in the situations where "because, fuck you" are called for seem pretty explicitly ironic to me.

I'm not sure, about that.

I can hardly imagine a situation where "because SCIENCE" and "because MATH" are ironic at all, except (and not implying you) to internet hipsters that never understood science or math.

Why did it rain on my wedding day? Because IRONY! Why a black fly in my chardonnay? Because IRONY! Why 10,000 straws when I needed a spork? Because IRONY!

Sorry Alanis, still not ironic.

Re: English Has a New Preposition, Because Internet

#122

Post by Cthulhu_ »

humanrebar wrote: post #16

Maybe it's just me, but the "prepositional because" is usually deprecative of the subject. The article details the implications of the prepositional because: "It conveys focus... It conveys brevity... But it also conveys a certain universality." People use it when they're busy, drunk, or absent-minded to be self-deprecative. As in: "Maxed out my credit card because too much beer!" But people also use it to disparage…

Upvoted this comment because valid.

Re: English Has a New Preposition, Because Internet

#123

Post by Cthulhu_ »

powertower wrote: post #8

That seems to dumb down the language, rather than improve or evolve it. > Skipping lunch today because sleep. What is that supposed to mean? You need to take a nap during lunch; you got too much sleep the night before and are groggy, etc. Why not add a few more words to make the sentence understandable (in this case non-ambiguous).

The confusion is part of the joke, really; people that are in the same boat, friends of the person that says it, or regulars in the same community (say, Reddit) will go empathic and go "I like totally know what you mean, like". Retweet reblog like favorite pinned shared etc.

Those that aren't in on the joke go "because huh?", which is funny. Because lol internet.

Re: English Has a New Preposition, Because Internet

#124

Post by Cthulhu_ »

Aardwolf wrote: post #36

In Dutch this one already exists: "vanwege".

Which is actually a merger of two words (van wege), which roughly translates to 'because of'. Lots of words are pronounced as if they are one (or always together), and in this case they were eventually written as one.

Re: English Has a New Preposition, Because Internet

#126

Post by teddyh »

rangibaby wrote: post #60
chc wrote: post #46

It's not really a new preposition, per se. It's a type of joke. Every occurrence cited here is using it in a jokey fashion. It seems to me you may as well say potatoes are a common topic of conversation on the Internet because of Latvian jokes.

This is how the word "OK" started out; it was a joke abbreviation of "all correct": Oll Korrect. You never know when a joke is going to take over the world... [0] http://www.amazon.com/OK-Improbable-Story-Americas-Greatest/...

That is one possible origin of the word; its actual origin is unknown and disputed.

Re: English Has a New Preposition, Because Internet

#130

Post by chrisdone »

dspeyer wrote: post #95
Alex_Jiang wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure that understanding this is that predicated on cultural familiarity. I'd argue the majority of its meaning comes from the fact that it "breaks the rules in order to be overly brief." The syntax being intentionally wrong, bad, and clumsy coincides with the fact that it's often used to describe absurd things and situations. Clumsy syntax = slightly belligerent rhetoric? I could be wrong, my main idea of a i…

I don't think it's belligerent or simply compressed. AFAICT, it warns the listener that a lot is being left out. It is, in fact, the independent phrase version, using a single noun as the independent phrase. This tells the listener to deduce the rest of the phrase. The verb and object are generally omitted for reasons other than brevity. "I added bacon to my ice cream because bacon" [is the most awesome thing ever] (…

Yes, a lack of words are omitted to mock a lack of thought. That's all. Anyone who thinks otherwise just missed the boat.
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