Separated by a Common Language

Useful to keep variants in reserve, if only for euphony / poetical reasons.

When I, an American, was living in the UK back in 2002, I was once with a group of guys of mixed nationality. One of these guys was a pretentious know-it-all from Buckingham.

One of the other Americans noticed that he said "while", and asked him why he said it "the American way".

The lad said, "Actually, 'while' is the correct way, and 'whilst' is slang. You would never hear the queen say 'whilst'."

My (British) sense about "whilst" is also 'pretentious and old-fashioned', maybe linked with the fact (if it is a fact) that it is alien to spontaneous speech.

To my mind, there is a slight distinction between "while" and "whilst", but I'm not sure I have it right.I don't think you can use "whilst" instead of a "while" that's carrying some sense of "although" (as in the example you quote); but in the sense of simultaneity with a focus on the continuity of the action, you could.

On the other hand, you definitely can't use "whilst" as a replacement in other senses, such as "erstwhile", or in the regional variation using "while" where the rest of us would say "until".

I've mostly been hearing "whilst" (in the US) from coworkers of Indian heritage. Of course I've also heard other old-fashioned or obscure words from them as well. "Abscond" come to mind. The only time I've encountered the latter before that was while studying for the SAT.

As a 63-year-old American I've never used "whilst" and wouldn't consider doing so. But given the nutty linguistic habits of young Americans I can't rule out that "whilst" may be enjoying a vogue among them.

Interestingly, however, in clicking through to read Lynne's original post on *Whilst* I ran across a comment from (the presumably American) KeithD, who noted that in addition to the while/whilst divide there is also the amid/amidst divide and the among/amongst divide. He even noted that apparently there was once an again/against divide, but the "again" that really means "against" seems to have disappeared.

Anyway, what I find so odd about these additional -st distinctions (amid/amidst and among/amongst) is that, unlike while/whilst, I find I have no preference. That is, I believe I'm just as likely to use one or the other and, in the absence of context, I have no idea which I'd prefer. It may even be that I have distinct preferences about when to use one or the other and that they have yet to penetrate my consciousness.

About the quondam again/against divide, it suddenly occurred to me that the word "agin" (which Merriam-Webster online defines as "dialectal variant of AGAINST") actually preserves this distinction. I assume, though, that as dialectical variants go it's an American one and not a British one.

I always used to think that whilst was old fashioned in the UK as well. My dad used it but I've never used it myself. I know it's common but it sounds pretentious to me.

For me, the possibility slitty of using whilst is a matter of rhythm. Other things being equal, it takes longer to say whilst than while. So fr me the clause introduced by whilst must be in some way heavier — though even then I might say while.

* For the most part, it must follow the main clause of the sentence.

* Although grammatically subordinate, the clause should normally carry the (falling) proclaiming intonation, signalling the main semantic point of the sentence.

* A verbless clause or one with a non-finite verb form such as a participle is more likely than a finite clause.

* Whilst is a useful device for slowing down the delivery.

These considerations seem to be borne out by the examples selected by two dictionaries on their websites (Collins and Oxford). I'll need to do this in a second posting...

Here are the dictionary examples:

A man who admires one party whilst making money out of both.
Then Beverley carried each drink in turn back to our table, whilst Trevor collected her change.
To take this oath with you present, whilst you defy the First Sister, is unconscionable.
‘I explained that whilst I would like to, now was not the right time for me, or for her.’
‘Others will rev the engine and light the lights whilst the forming queue shifts on its feet.’
‘Once we were word perfect we were taught what we had to do whilst on the altar.’
‘I said out loud as I tried to stare a bit more at the map whilst driving at 40 miles an hour.’
‘Being in a rush to get out this evening we sat Tommy at the table whilst we were eating and all had a civilised meal.’
‘Walking on the road in broad daylight whilst facing the traffic makes me anxious enough.’
‘In my infinite wisdom I decided to fill the holes in myself whilst Gary was working.’
‘It was exchanged for a very large scar whilst on a skiing holiday in Switzerland.’
‘Molly clambers up onto the wall and struts up and down for a moment whilst she gets her balance on the wall.’
‘It is impossible not to be moved whilst in the presence of such belief and faith.’
‘I had a bag of fish and chips for lunch and ate them whilst sitting by the river.’
‘I was sitting in the living room and whilst my friend was in the kitchen her husband made a pass at me.’
‘Heroin stays in the system for around a day, whilst cannabis can remain in the body for up to a month.’
‘Even when she is unwell, she is able to just step through that and put it aside whilst she is out there.’
‘The worst of it though, is the attention I get whilst running on the streets of London.’
‘Love on a mental level is friendship, whilst love on a physical level is basically lust.’
‘I'd forgotten to mention but I had a bit of an accident with Dads car whilst he was away.’
‘My poor dogs and I are confined to one room whilst the window men continue to fit the new windows.’
‘Perhaps whilst it is fresh in my mind I might just pick up on the last point of the press briefings.’
‘We had to queue and order our meal, standing at a counter, whilst scanning the menu.’

* Note that these include several with the 'although' sense which Autolycus thought inadmissible.

* A large minority have whilst followed by a non-finite -ing-form.

* Three have whilst with no verb at all.

* Only three have the whilst clause preceding another. My guesses last why are:

— ‘I explained that whilst I would like to, now was not the right time for me, or for her.’
Perhaps the function of whilst is to slow down and thereby give emphasis.

— ‘I was sitting in the living room and whilst my friend was in the kitchen her husband made a pass at me.’
Here, is strikes me, the effect is not so much slowing down as encouraging a pause after and.

— ‘Perhaps whilst it is fresh in my mind I might just pick up on the last point of the press briefings.’
Again, my best guess is that whilst encourages a pause after Perhaps.

I can't say I necessarily would have chosen whilst over while in all of these sentences, but I think I could so choose

I can't say I have ever heard anyone where I grew up and live (Alabama) say whilst. Maybe they enjoy more use in certain big, east coast cities like New York, but, glancing at all the previous UK->US words of the year on this blog, I can't say I have ever heard any of them used here. I've heard a guy who grew up in NYC (the Bronx) use whilst, so I wonder if Briticisms tend to start in places like NYC?

Though, I do get the feeling I've seen someone else use whilst or tried to use whilst myself in a school paper because it sounds fancier than while.

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During a journalism lecture in the UK, our teacher, a longtime newspaper subeditor, was sharing his thoughts on usage. He put up a handy flowchart explaining when to use while/whilst.

"You are Jane Austen." - Yes - use 'whilst'/No - use 'while'

I don't remember every hearing/seeing this from US speakers/writers (although it's possible that I saw it online and just assumed that meant the person was British).

What I have seen recently, though, is an epidemic of "amidst" from Americans in the academic writing I edit.

I have used whilst more in writing than in speaking, but my writing tends to be more formal-sounding than when I'm just shooting the breeze with someone. I'm more likely to use "while" at the beginning of a sentence and "whilst" as per Mr Crosbie's dictionary examples mentioned above. I've only ever heard it pronounced as while+st (not "willst"). - an American from the mid-atlantic region

I think whilst is being used in place of whereas, which would explain why it's got that 'a bit more formal' feel.

E.g. "I saw a giraffe while on my way to the shops" works but "I saw a giraffe whilst on my way to the shops" sounds odd.

But "Seeing a giraffe is improbable, whilst seeing a pug is not" or "Seeing seeing a giraffe is improbable, while seeing a pug is not" and "Seeing seeing a giraffe is improbable, whereas seeing a pug is not" all seem to work for me.

In the 60s, whilst was an old-time New England term used by the old country people with strong Maine accents. As such it was frowned upon by our teachers who did their best to stamp it out in their charges. So funny the young American hipsters are picking it up again.

As a Scot of a certain generation, I cringe when I see “whilst” in print. To paraphrase one of my English teachers: while for prose, whilst for poetry - but only if thou dost not liketh modern poetry.

Weirdly, I don't use whilst, but I do use amongst, seemingly without thought, because I type it automatically in comments and my spellchecker yells at me that it's spelled wrong. And oddly, my spellchecker is completely okay with whilst. Both of these are in American English. Why my spellchecker likes whilst but not amongst is beyond me.

You asked how Americans are pronouncing whilst. I’m not a young American any longer (getting very close to the start of my 70s), but I pronounce the “wh”. Why am I using the word? I’m not sure, but I like the sound of it, and am aware that I started using it a couple years ago.

I live in the UK but grew up in the USA and I both type and say whilst although I can't say that I have heard many people pronounce it in either American or British English, I pronounce it like while-st or something like /wʌɪlst/ with my american accent.

Hi. 67 year old Brit here, born in what’s now (old) South Wales, and thereafter living in various university cities in southern England. (Cambridge, Oxford, London, Brighton.) I arrived here from Ben Yagoda’s “Not One-off Britishisms” blog. (https://notoneoffbritishisms.com/2019/01/07/whilst-breaks-through/#comment-79351 )

In my idiolect, there is a clear difference between “whilst” and “while”, which seems to be the exact opposite of what Autolycus says, and which doesn’t jibe with many of the dictionary examples given by David Crosbie. But I’m encouraged to think that I’ve got the distinction the right way around by the fact that “whilst” and “while” are, (perhaps surprisingly), not cognates, and are derived (according to commentators Nigel and Sammy at NOOB) from words meaning “against” and “time” respectively. This fits perfectly with my usage.

My explanation of the distinction in my idiolect is at the above link. (Commentator kgbgb.) I would have copied it here, but it took this comment well beyond the 4K limit.

Silly me! The obvious solution is to copy it as a separate comment! Here it is:-

I’m surprised that nobody has yet pointed out that there is a real difference in meaning between “whilst” and “while”, even if it is far from universally respected. It’s not just a matter of ‘elegant variation’.

I didn’t know that “whilst” was descended from a word meaning “against”, as Nigel reports above, but that is exactly how I use it. It is used to conjoin two statements that are against each other, in the sense that knowing that one was true would normally make you expect the other to be false. You are pointing out that, nevertheless, they are both true.

“While”, on the other hand, has no such sense of opposition – it just states that some events or states happen or exist at the same time. The meaning is purely temporal; there is no implied comment about epistemology. (It is interesting that Sammy tells us that it derives from a word meaning “time”.) “Whilst” has no such requirement of simultaneity – it would be fine to say “Whilst he came from the most deprived background imaginable, he eventually rose to be the leading poet of his generation.”

In BrE, “while” has substantially displaced “whilst”. I admit that I sometimes use “while” where, on reflection, I would concede that “whilst” would have been better. But never the other way around! I may be wrong, but my impression is that Brits never use “whilst” without there being an underlying sense of opposition.

It appears that in AmE, “while” completely displaced “whilst”, but “whilst” is now returning as just a fancy alternative to “while”. This results in many apparent errors, to British ears. Both the “whilst”s in the piece from the Baffler should be “while”. (While the “while” could, just about, have been “whilst”). Similarly, the one “whilst” in the Lana del Rey quote and both in the McSweeny piece would be “while”s if written by a Brit. Lisa Franklin’s usage, however, is fine. My first reaction to the Kiefer quote was that it was another mistake, but then I realised that the use of “whilst” could be interpreted as a very neat way of pointing out the incongruity of Madonna’s situation. Among the tweets, dvader518’s usage is fine, t y l e r and Colin K. should have stuck to “while”, and there’s no way to be sure about Martin Garrix as we don’t have enough of the sentence.

As I was writing that last sentence, it occurred to me how best to explain to Americans how these non-standard American uses of “whilst” sound to Brits like Jacob Rees-Mogg, Sadiq Khan and me, who actually use the word with its established meaning. The “as” near the end of the previous paragraph has displaced the word “because”, while that at the start of this paragraph has not – “because” there would be quite wrong. Imagine for the moment that the displacement of “because” by “as” in BrE had gone to completion. Suppose some Brits then heard Americans saying “because” in some places where they said “as”, and decided that “because” was just elegant variation for “as”. When they then wrote sentences like the first sentence of this paragraph with “because” rather than “as”, your reaction would be similar to my reaction to many American uses of “whilst”. There would be an improper implication of an epistemological or causative connection, where only simultaneity was intended.