#187363 - 10/18/09 09:51 PM
"But, by the same token"
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 03/15/00
Posts: 10392
Loc: Louisville, Kentucky
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Our first grammar question today comes from concerned reader Brian Cameron of Elora, Ontario, who writes: ``Just what does it mean when someone says, `But, by the same token'?''
A. In grammatical terminology, this is what is known as a ``constipating conjunction.'' It is used to separate two statements that would sound stupid if they were right next to each other.
EXAMPLES:
-- ``Unemployment will definitely decrease. But, by the same token, it could increase.''
-- ``In 27 years of marriage, Todd never noticed Marie's tentacle. But, by the same token, he was a fine tennis player.''
Q. How come we say ``tuna fish''? I mean, tuna IS a kind of fish, right? We don't say ``tomato vegetable'' or ``milk dairy product'' or ``beef meat,'' do we? And how come we call it ``beef''? How come we don't say, ``I'll have a piece of cow, rare''? And how come we say ``rare''? And how come the waiter always says, ``DID you want some dessert,'' instead of, ``DO you want some dessert?'' Does he mean, ``DID you want some dessert, before you found those hairs in your lasagna?'' And how come everybody says ``sher-BERT,'' when the word is ``sher- BET''? And how come broadcast news reporters end their reports by saying, ``This is Edward M. Stuntgoat, reporting.'' What ELSE would we think he's doing? Hemorrhaging?
Q. Last year, when your son, Robby, was doing a fourth-grade homework assignment that required him to use the word ``combine'' in a sentence, what sentence did he write?
A. He wrote: ``Unfortunately, many people have died being shredded by a combine.''
Q. Are you making that up?
A. No.
Q. Are you concerned about it?
A. No. But, by the same token, yes.
Dave Barry Courtesy of Max's Useful Language Links.
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#187374 - 10/19/09 09:05 AM
Re: "But, by the same token"
[Re: Jackie]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/24/02
Posts: 6690
Loc: Vermont
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#187411 - 10/22/09 07:19 AM
Re: "But, by the same token"
[Re: Jackie]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 06/23/06
Posts: 3754
Loc: Netherlands, the Hague
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A token of affection from etymology online:
O.E. tacen "sign, symbol, evidence" (related to tęcan "show, explain, teach"), from P.Gmc. *taiknan (cf. O.S. tekan, O.N. teikn "zodiac sign, omen, token," O.Fris., M.Du. teken, Du. teken, O.H.G. zeihhan, Ger. zeichen, Goth. taikn "sign, token"), from PIE base *deik- "to show" (see teach). Meaning "coin-like piece of stamped metal" is first recorded 1598. The adj. meaning "nominal" is from 1915, from the noun. In integration sense, first recorded 1960; tokenism is first recorded 1962. Original sense of "evidence" is retained in by the same token (1463), originally "introducing a corroborating evidence."
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